In a recent line of research the low interest-rate environment of the early to mid 2000s is viewed as an element that triggered increased risk-taking appetite of banks in search for yield. This paper uses approximately 7,000 annual observations on banks of the CEE countries over the period...

The global economic and financial crisis (2008-2009) showed that growing sectoral imbalances (for example, too much housing investment) and financial risks (for instance,excessively leveraged financial institutions, excess household indebtedness, excess maturity mismatches in the banking system,...

Plenary Session Paper Plenary Session Paper Plenary Session Paper

In a recent paper, Geanakoplos and Fostel (2008) suggest that financial markets operate under three conditions: the normal economy, when the liquidity wedge is small and leverage is high; the anxious economy, when the liquidity wedge is big, leverage is curtailed and the general public is...