The Source of the Panic of 2008: The Mortgage Credit Market Crisis in the United States

Abstract:     
This article analyzes the causes of U.S. mortgage backed securities crisis, a crucial market in the financial panic of 2008. It shows that irrational behavior of investors is not infrequent, as evidenced by Ponzi schemes and bubbles. A comparison is made between traditional and new models of mortgage financing, where the key difference is the new model that unlinks incentives for different agents in the value chain and the risks they assume. It concludes with some reflections on the lessons that the experience of the Colombian mortgage crisis of 1998-2000 may offer for the resolution of the current crisis in the U.S.

Note: Downloadable document is in Spanish.

Keywords: mortgage market, financial crisis, United States

JEL Classifications: G01, G15

Accepted Paper Series