If interest rates (country spreads) rise, debt can rapidly be subject to a snowball effect, which becomes self-fulfilling with regard to the fundamentals themselves. This is a market imperfection, because we cannot be confident that the unaided market will choose the ""good"" over the ""bad""...

In this study, we examine whether sell-side security analysts gain access to value relevant information through political connections. We measure analysts' political connections based on political contributions at the brokerage house level. We argue that if brokerages are able to obtain private...

Intro -- Contents -- I. INTRODUCTION -- II. THE FINANCIAL CRISES OF THE 1990S WERE DIFFERENT FROM THOSE OF THE 1980S -- III. DEBT CRISES OF THE 1990S: A TAXONOMY -- IV. CONFIDENCE CRISIS AND CRISIS OF THE FUNDAMENTALS: A THEORETICAL BENCHMARK -- V. OUR POLICY IMPLICATIONS: COLLECTIVE ACTION...