Introduction

Abstract

The global financial crisis, triggered by the collapse of Lehman Brothers in September 2008 in the United States, started a contagion that pushed the world economy into deep recession. Not since the Great Depression of the 1930s, had the world economy witnessed such a massive reduction in gross domestic product (GDP) and a sharp drop in real growth. The proximate cause of the crisis lay in the US sub-prime housing market, whose collapse led to a run in shadow banking, debilitating confidence in financial institutions in the US and across the world.