The Financial Crisis in the Light of the Euro Area Accounts: Selected Issues

Since the insolvency of Lehman Brothers in September 2008, vast efforts have been devoted to describing and explaining the developments prior to, during and after the associated financial and economic crisis. Although the crisis was triggered in the United States, notably with the implosion of the sub-prime mortgage market, the unfolding financial turmoil had global repercussions. In particular, with the abrupt reversal of the global credit cycle, regional imbalances within the euro area became exposed, together with associated weaknesses in private and public, financial and non-financial sector balance sheets.