As part of the lecture series "Disaster and Disease in North America", Daniel Dieckelmann will give a talk on "Recurring Catastrophes: Causes and Consequences of Financial Crises in North America".

Summary:

Financial crises are recurring economic catastrophes wreaking havoc on the financial system and on the real economy alike. Banking crises in particular tend to deeply ingrain themselves into collective memory due to their profound impact on monetary and fiscal policies, politics, and social structure that often last for decades. In this lecture, we will briefly survey the historical record of financial crises in Canada and the United States from 1870 to today. The striking difference in major crisis incidence between Canada (zero) and the United States (five at least) will lead us to discuss the roles of political populism, economic institutions, and regulation, as well as those of over-indebtedness and asset price bubbles. The consequences of financial crises on production and employment, voting behavior, and economic inequality are addressed, as well.

The event will be streamed online via WebEx events.The link can be found here.