Great Recession/Timelines

The 1980s

• Financial deregulation [1], [2].
• The US Savings and Loans crisis - failure of 296 US "Savings and Loans" mortgage lenders [3]

1990 - 2003

• Progressive discount rate cuts by Federal Reserve Bank (from 7% in 1990 t0 0.75% in 2003 [4].
• The United States housing boom begins (prices rise by 8% between 2002 and 2003)

2003 - 2006

• The Federal Reserve Bank makes a series of discount rate increases (from 0.75% to 6.25% in 2006).
• The US housing boom continues [5] (Average 2006 house price about 70% above 2000 level)

2007

June

• 25 Two of the Bear Stearns Bank's suffer losses from mortgage defaults [6].

August

• 6 The American Home Mortgage Corporationgoes bankrupt [7].
• 9 The French bank BNP Paribas freezes its funds because it is unable to value their mortgage-backed assets. [8]
• 13 BBC's Robert Peston reports that the Northern Rock bank was seeking help from the Bank of England.
  

     The Northern Rock bank suffers a bank run [9]

2008

January

• The US mortgage lender Countrywide is sold to Bank of America after its share price drops by 48% [10].

February

• The British Northern Rock bank is "nationalised [11].

March

• The US Bear Stearns bank is rescued following losses relating to mortgage-related assets by its hedge funds. [12]

April

• Bank of England announces its Special Liquidity Scheme to allow banks to swap some of their illiquid assets for liquid Treasury Bills for up to three years [13].

June

• US house prices fall to 20% below their 2006 peak [14].

August

• The government-sponsored mortgage lenders Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac are rescued [15].

September

• 7 Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac are nationalised [16].
• 12 The Lehman Brothers investment bankgoes bankrupt[17] with losses of up to $160 billion to holders of its unsecured bonds prompting a sudden loss of confidence in Money market funds and the onset of a credit crunch.

October

• 3 The (modified) $700 billion Paulson Plan (to purchase toxic assets) approved by Congress [18].
• The Dutch Fortis and ABN Amro banks are "nationalised" [19]. The German Hypo Real Estate bank is rescued [20].
• Iceland suffers an economic crisis [21].
• 6 The US Wachovia Corporation is to be rescued by a takeover by the Wells Fargo bank [22].
• 7 More European bank rescues [23].
• 8 UK Chancellor of the Exchequer Gordon Brown announces a £500 billion UK rescue plan to inject capital or take equity in banks and to guarantee interbank lending) [24] [25].
• A coordinated discount rate cut of half per cent by the central banks of the United States, Europe, China, Britain, Canada, Sweden and Switzerland [26].
• 10 LIBOR-OIS spreads reach over 350 basis points (compared with August 2007 rates of around 10 points)[27].
• 12 European Union leaders agree to adopt the UK rescue plan[28].
• 14 US President Bush announces new plans to inject capital, take equity in banks and guarantee interbank lending [29].
• 19 A German bank rescue package is agreed [30].
• 21 The US Federal Reserve Bank offers $540 billion loan support to money market mutual funds [31].
• 25 Denmark's Roskilde is bank to be taken over by its central bank [32].

November

• 23 The US Citigroup bank is rescued (the US government makes $20 billion cash injection and guarantees against loss on $306 billion of illiquid assets [33] [34] [35][36]
• The US Federal Reserve Bank promises to buy up to $500 billion worth of mortgage-backed securities guarantee by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac and up to $100billion worth of their direct debt [37].

December

• 16 The US Federal Reserve Bank begins credit easing - open market operations raise the amount of base money from $0.9 trillion to $2.2 trillion [38]