We examine the effects of opacity on bank valuation and the synchronicity of bank equity prices over the years 2000-2006 prior to the 2007 financial crisis. Investments in opaque assets are more profitable than transparent assets, and controlling for profitability, have larger valuation...

This review of the literature on the 2007–09 crisis discusses the precrisis conditions, the crisis triggers, the crisis events, the real effects, and the policy responses to the crisis. The precrisis conditions contributed to the housing price bubble and the subsequent price decline that led...