marktcrises

Marktkrisen (market crises) refer to periods of sudden, sharp reversals in prices and sentiment that disrupt financial markets, commodity markets, or housing markets. They involve liquidity shortages, heightened risk aversion, and rapid repricing of risk. While not all market crises yield a broader economic recession, they can amplify downturns and spill over into the real economy, public finances, and policy expectations.

Causes include overvaluation and excessive leverage, sudden shifts in expectations, funding stress, macroeconomic imbalances, external shocks, and contagion across asset classes and borders. Weak regulation or supervisory gaps can magnify vulnerabilities, while interconnected markets can transmit shocks quickly.

Indicators are rapid price declines, rising volatility, widening credit spreads, collapsing liquidity in key markets, falling trading volumes, and rising default rates. Crises can be triggered by a single event or by a sequence of imbalances that reach a tipping point.

Types include financial market crises (banks and credit markets), commodity market crises (e.g., oil or metals), and housing market crises (plunges in property prices). A market crisis may be a sharp crash or a more prolonged episode of stressed conditions.

Impacts include economic contraction, unemployment, bankruptcies, and debt distress. Policy responses often combine monetary easing, lender-of-last-resort facilities, macroprudential reforms, and, in severe cases, fiscal stimulus or rescue packages aimed at stabilizing markets and restoring confidence.

Historical examples range from the 1929 stock market crash and the 1987 crash to the 1997 Asian financial crisis, the 2000 dot-com bust, and the 2008 global financial crisis, with ongoing episodes such as sovereign debt tensions and commodity price shocks. See also: financial crisis, economic crisis.