Scope of Financial Crisis of 2007–2009

This article is about the series of financial market events, starting in July 2007, which were the proximate cause of a weakening of the global economy. For details on the stock market crashes and bank bailouts of late 2008, see Global financial crisis of 2008–2009. For economic issues beyond the financial markets, see Late 2000s recession. For discussions of major aspects of the policy response to the crisis, see The Keynesian Resurgence of 2008 / 2009 and 2009 G-20 London summit.

The crisis in real estate, banking and credit in the United States had a global reach, affecting a wide range of financial and economic activities and institutions, including the:

• Overall tightening of credit with financial institutions making both corporate and consumer credit harder to get;[6]
  
• Financial markets (stock exchanges and derivative markets) that experienced steep declines;
  
• Liquidity problems in equity funds and hedge funds;
  
• Devaluation of the assets underpinning insurance contracts and pension funds leading to concerns about the ability of these instruments to meet future obligations:
  
• Increased public debt public finance due to the provision of public funds to the financial services industry and other affected industries, and the
  
• Devaluation of some currencies (Icelandic crown, some Eastern Europe and Latin America currencies) and increased currency volatility,
  

The first symptoms of what is now called the late 2000s recession ensued also in various countries and various industries. The financial crisis, albeit not the only cause among other economic imbalances, was a factor by making borrowing and equity raising harder.