Divyanshu67/squad_v2 huggingface dataset:
Financial_crisis_of_2007%E2%80%9308

As financial assets became more and more complex, and harder and harder to value, investors were reassured by the fact that both the international bond rating agencies and bank regulators, who came to rely on them, accepted as valid some complex mathematical models which theoretically showed the risks were much smaller than they actually proved to be. George Soros commented that "The super-boom got out of hand when the new products became so complicated that the authorities could no longer calculate the risks and started relying on the risk management methods of the banks themselves. Similarly, the rating agencies relied on the information provided by the originators of synthetic products. It was a shocking abdication of responsibility."

Question: Who commented that the super-boom got out of hand when products became so complicated that risk could not be accurately calculated?
Answer: George Soros

Question: What happened to financial assets that made them harder to value?
Answer: more complex

Question: Who did rating agencies rely on for information to rate financial innovation products?
Answer: the originators of synthetic products

Question: When authorities could no longer calculate the risks of complex financial innovation products, who did they rely on for information?
Answer: the banks

Question: Who reassured investors by showing the risk of complex financial innovation products was actually less than they proved to be?
Answer: international bond rating agencies
Financial_crisis_of_2007%E2%80%9308

Moreover, a conflict of interest between professional investment managers and their institutional clients, combined with a global glut in investment capital, led to bad investments by asset managers in over-priced credit assets. Professional investment managers generally are compensated based on the volume of client assets under management. There is, therefore, an incentive for asset managers to expand their assets under management in order to maximize their compensation. As the glut in global investment capital caused the yields on credit assets to decline, asset managers were faced with the choice of either investing in assets where returns did not reflect true credit risk or returning funds to clients. Many asset managers chose to continue to invest client funds in over-priced (under-yielding) investments, to the detriment of their clients, in order to maintain their assets under management. This choice was supported by a "plausible deniability" of the risks associated with subprime-based credit assets because the loss experience with early "vintages" of subprime loans was so low.

Question: What led to bad investments by asset managers in over-priced credit assets?
Answer: a conflict of interest

Question: Who is compensated based on the volume of client assets they have under management?
Answer: Professional investment managers

Question: What is the incentive for asset managers to expand their assets under management?
Answer: to maximize their compensation

Question: What did many asset managers decide to do to the detriment of their clients?
Answer: continue to invest client funds in over-priced (under-yielding) investments

Question: What rationale did asset managers who continued to invest in over-priced investments to the detriment of their clients use?
Answer: plausible deniability
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Despite the dominance of the above formula, there are documented attempts of the financial industry, occurring before the crisis, to address the formula limitations, specifically the lack of dependence dynamics and the poor representation of extreme events. The volume "Credit Correlation: Life After Copulas", published in 2007 by World Scientific, summarizes a 2006 conference held by Merrill Lynch in London where several practitioners attempted to propose models rectifying some of the copula limitations. See also the article by Donnelly and Embrechts and the book by Brigo, Pallavicini and Torresetti, that reports relevant warnings and research on CDOs appeared in 2006.

Question: Who published "Credit Correlation: Life After Copulas" in 2007?
Answer: World Scientific

Question: When did relevant warnings and research on CDOs appear in an article by Donnelly and Embrechts?
Answer: 2006

Question: The volume "Credit Correlation: Life After Copulas" summarizes a 2006 conference held by what firm in London?
Answer: Merrill Lynch

Question: What did the volume "Credit Correlation: Life After Copulas" propose models to rectify?
Answer: some of the copula limitations

Question: What year did the book by Brigo, Pallavicini and Torresetti report warnings and research on CDOs?
Answer: 2006
Financial_crisis_of_2007%E2%80%9308

In a June 2008 speech, President and CEO of the New York Federal Reserve Bank Timothy Geithner—who in 2009 became Secretary of the United States Treasury—placed significant blame for the freezing of credit markets on a "run" on the entities in the "parallel" banking system, also called the shadow banking system. These entities became critical to the credit markets underpinning the financial system, but were not subject to the same regulatory controls. Further, these entities were vulnerable because of maturity mismatch, meaning that they borrowed short-term in liquid markets to purchase long-term, illiquid and risky assets. This meant that disruptions in credit markets would make them subject to rapid deleveraging, selling their long-term assets at depressed prices. He described the significance of these entities:

Question: Who was President and CEO of the New York Federal Reserve Bank in June 2008?
Answer: Timothy Geithner

Question: What year did Timothy Geithner become U.S. Treasury Secretary?
Answer: 2009

Question: In a June 2008 speech, Timoty Geithner placed blame for credit market freezing on which system?
Answer: "parallel" banking system

Question: What is the "parallel" banking system also called?
Answer: shadow banking system

Question: What is the term defined as being vulnerable by borrowing short-term in liquid markets to purchase long-term illiquid and risky assets?
Answer: maturity mismatch
Financial_crisis_of_2007%E2%80%9308

The securitization markets supported by the shadow banking system started to close down in the spring of 2007 and nearly shut-down in the fall of 2008. More than a third of the private credit markets thus became unavailable as a source of funds. According to the Brookings Institution, the traditional banking system does not have the capital to close this gap as of June 2009: "It would take a number of years of strong profits to generate sufficient capital to support that additional lending volume." The authors also indicate that some forms of securitization are "likely to vanish forever, having been an artifact of excessively loose credit conditions."

Question: When did the securitization markets supported by the shadow banking systems start to close down?
Answer: spring of 2007

Question: When did the securitization markets supported by the shadow banking system nearly shut-down completely?
Answer: fall of 2008

Question: How much of the private credit markets become unavailable as a source of funds?
Answer: More than a third

Question: What is the firm who reported that the traditional banking system does not have capital to close the gap as of June 2009?
Answer: Brookings Institution

Question: How many years would of strong profit would it take to generate enough capital to support additional lending?
Answer: a number of years
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Economist Mark Zandi testified to the Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission in January 2010: "The securitization markets also remain impaired, as investors anticipate more loan losses. Investors are also uncertain about coming legal and accounting rule changes and regulatory reforms. Private bond issuance of residential and commercial mortgage-backed securities, asset-backed securities, and CDOs peaked in 2006 at close to $2 trillion...In 2009, private issuance was less than $150 billion, and almost all of it was asset-backed issuance supported by the Federal Reserve's TALF program to aid credit card, auto and small-business lenders. Issuance of residential and commercial mortgage-backed securities and CDOs remains dormant."

Question: What economist testified to the Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission in January 2010?
Answer: Mark Zandi

Question: In January 2010, what markets did Mark Zandi testify about that remain impaired and investors anticipate more loan losses?
Answer: securitization markets

Question: What was the value of CDOs at their peak in 2006?
Answer: close to $2 trillion

Question: What was the private issuance of CDOs in 2009?
Answer: less than $150 billion

Question: Almost all of the asset-backed issuance in 2009 was supported by what Federal Reserve program?
Answer: TALF
Financial_crisis_of_2007%E2%80%9308

Rapid increases in a number of commodity prices followed the collapse in the housing bubble. The price of oil nearly tripled from $50 to $147 from early 2007 to 2008, before plunging as the financial crisis began to take hold in late 2008. Experts debate the causes, with some attributing it to speculative flow of money from housing and other investments into commodities, some to monetary policy, and some to the increasing feeling of raw materials scarcity in a fast-growing world, leading to long positions taken on those markets, such as Chinese increasing presence in Africa. An increase in oil prices tends to divert a larger share of consumer spending into gasoline, which creates downward pressure on economic growth in oil importing countries, as wealth flows to oil-producing states. A pattern of spiking instability in the price of oil over the decade leading up to the price high of 2008 has been recently identified. The destabilizing effects of this price variance has been proposed as a contributory factor in the financial crisis.

Question: Following the collapse in the housing bubble, what happened to a number of commodity prices?
Answer: Rapid increases

Question: How much did the price of oil increase from early 2007 to 2008?
Answer: nearly tripled from $50 to $147

Question: What did the price of oil began doing when the financial crisis began to take hold in late 2008?
Answer: plunging

Question: What is one of the reasons experts believe contributed to the volatilaty in oil prices in 2008? 
Answer: monetary policy

Question: Consumers tend to have less money to spend on other goods, when the price of which commodity is higher?
Answer: gasoline
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In testimony before the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation on June 3, 2008, former director of the CFTC Division of Trading & Markets (responsible for enforcement) Michael Greenberger specifically named the Atlanta-based IntercontinentalExchange, founded by Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley and BP as playing a key role in speculative run-up of oil futures prices traded off the regulated futures exchanges in London and New York. However, the IntercontinentalExchange (ICE) had been regulated by both European and U.S. authorities since its purchase of the International Petroleum Exchange in 2001. Mr Greenberger was later corrected on this matter.

Question: Who was the former director of the CFTC that testified before the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation on June 3, 2008?
Answer: Michael Greenberger

Question: Who did Michael Greenberger erronesously name as a key player in speculative run-up of oil futures?
Answer: IntercontinentalExchange

Question: Who founded the Atlanta-based Intercontinental Exchange?
Answer: Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley and BP

Question: Who purchased the International Petroleum Exchange in 2001?
Answer: IntercontinentalExchange (ICE)

Question: Where are regulated future exchanges located?
Answer: London and New York
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Feminist economists Ailsa McKay and Margunn Bjørnholt argue that the financial crisis and the response to it revealed a crisis of ideas in mainstream economics and within the economics profession, and call for a reshaping of both the economy, economic theory and the economics profession. They argue that such a reshaping should include new advances within feminist economics and ecological economics that take as their starting point the socially responsible, sensible and accountable subject in creating an economy and economic theories that fully acknowledge care for each other as well as the planet.

Question: Who is one of the feminist economists that believe the financial crisis revealed a crisis of mainstream economics and call for a complete reshaping of the economy?
Answer: Ailsa McKay

Question: Feminist economists Ailsa McKay and Margunn Bjornhold believe that the financial crisis and response reveal a crisis of ideas in this?
Answer: mainstream economics

Question: According to feminist economists McKay and Bjornholt, would type economics should be included in a reshaping?
Answer: feminist economics

Question: What do economists McKay and Bjornholt want to occur in the economy, economic theory, and economics profession?
Answer: a reshaping
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Current Governor of the Reserve Bank of India Raghuram Rajan had predicted the crisis in 2005 when he became chief economist at the International Monetary Fund.In 2005, at a celebration honouring Alan Greenspan, who was about to retire as chairman of the US Federal Reserve, Rajan delivered a controversial paper that was critical of the financial sector. In that paper, "Has Financial Development Made the World Riskier?", Rajan "argued that disaster might loom." Rajan argued that financial sector managers were encouraged to "take risks that generate severe adverse consequences with small probability but, in return, offer generous compensation the rest of the time. These risks are known as tail risks. But perhaps the most important concern is whether banks will be able to provide liquidity to financial markets so that if the tail risk does materialise, financial positions can be unwound and losses allocated so that the consequences to the real economy are minimised."

Question: Who was the current Governor of the Reserve Bank of India that predicted the crisis in 2005?
Answer: Raghuram Rajan

Question: When did Raghuram Rajan become chief economist the the International Monetary Fund?
Answer: 2005

Question: In 2005, where did Rajan deliver a controversial paper that was critical of the financial paper?
Answer: at a celebration honouring Alan Greenspan

Question: What was the name of Raghuram Rajan's controversial paper delivered in 2005?
Answer: "Has Financial Development Made the World Riskier?"

Question: What are risks called that generate severe adverse consequences with small probability but generous compensation the rest of the time?
Answer: tail risks
Financial_crisis_of_2007%E2%80%9308

The financial crisis was not widely predicted by mainstream economists except Raghuram Rajan, who instead spoke of the Great Moderation. A number of heterodox economists predicted the crisis, with varying arguments. Dirk Bezemer in his research credits (with supporting argument and estimates of timing) 12 economists with predicting the crisis: Dean Baker (US), Wynne Godley (UK), Fred Harrison (UK), Michael Hudson (US), Eric Janszen (US), Steve Keen (Australia), Jakob Brøchner Madsen & Jens Kjaer Sørensen (Denmark), Kurt Richebächer (US), Nouriel Roubini (US), Peter Schiff (US), and Robert Shiller (US). Examples of other experts who gave indications of a financial crisis have also been given. Not surprisingly, the Austrian economic school regarded the crisis as a vindication and classic example of a predictable credit-fueled bubble that could not forestall the disregarded but inevitable effect of an artificial, manufactured laxity in monetary supply, a perspective that even former Fed Chair Alan Greenspan in Congressional testimony confessed himself forced to return to.

Question: Who was one of the only mainstream economist to predict the financial crisis?
Answer: Raghuram Rajan

Question: What did Raghuram Rajan speak of?
Answer: Great Moderation

Question: Who credit 12 heterodox economists with predicting the crisis in his research credits?
Answer: Dirk Bezemer

Question: How did the Austrian economic school regard the crisis?
Answer: as a vindication

Question: Which former Fed Chair confessed in Congressional testimony to being forced to return to lax monetary supply?
Answer: Alan Greenspan
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A cover story in BusinessWeek magazine claims that economists mostly failed to predict the worst international economic crisis since the Great Depression of the 1930s. The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania's online business journal examines why economists failed to predict a major global financial crisis. Popular articles published in the mass media have led the general public to believe that the majority of economists have failed in their obligation to predict the financial crisis. For example, an article in the New York Times informs that economist Nouriel Roubini warned of such crisis as early as September 2006, and the article goes on to state that the profession of economics is bad at predicting recessions. According to The Guardian, Roubini was ridiculed for predicting a collapse of the housing market and worldwide recession, while The New York Times labelled him "Dr. Doom".

Question: Which magazine ran a cover story claiming that most economists failed to the the financial crisis?
Answer: BusinessWeek

Question: The financial crisis of 2007 was the worst economic crisis since which crisis that occurred in the 1930s?
Answer: Great Depression

Question: Which school at University of Pennsylvania examined in their online business journal why economists failed to predict the crisis?
Answer: The Wharton School

Question: Which economist did the New York Times state warned of a crisis as early as September 2006?
Answer: Nouriel Roubini

Question: What was economist Roubini called by the New York Times for predicting a collapse of the housing market?
Answer: "Dr. Doom"
Financial_crisis_of_2007%E2%80%9308

Stock trader and financial risk engineer Nassim Nicholas Taleb, author of the 2007 book The Black Swan, spent years warning against the breakdown of the banking system in particular and the economy in general owing to their use of bad risk models and reliance on forecasting, and their reliance on bad models, and framed the problem as part of "robustness and fragility". He also took action against the establishment view by making a big financial bet on banking stocks and making a fortune from the crisis ("They didn't listen, so I took their money"). According to David Brooks from the New York Times, "Taleb not only has an explanation for what’s happening, he saw it coming."

Question: Who wrote the 2007 book The Black Swan?
Answer: Nassim Nicholas Taleb

Question: What journalist from the New York Times stated his believe in Nassim Nicholas Taleb?
Answer: David Brooks

Question: What did Nassim Nicholas Taleb warn about for years prior to the financial crisis of 2007?
Answer: the breakdown of the banking system

Question: What did Nassim Nicholas Taleb make a fortune on by making a big financial bet?
Answer: banking stocks
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Market strategist Phil Dow believes distinctions exist "between the current market malaise" and the Great Depression. He says the Dow Jones average's fall of more than 50% over a period of 17 months is similar to a 54.7% fall in the Great Depression, followed by a total drop of 89% over the following 16 months. "It's very troubling if you have a mirror image," said Dow. Floyd Norris, the chief financial correspondent of The New York Times, wrote in a blog entry in March 2009 that the decline has not been a mirror image of the Great Depression, explaining that although the decline amounts were nearly the same at the time, the rates of decline had started much faster in 2007, and that the past year had only ranked eighth among the worst recorded years of percentage drops in the Dow. The past two years ranked third, however.

Question: Who is the market strategist that believes distinctions exist between the current crisis and the Great Depression?
Answer: Phil Dow

Question: How much did the Dow Jones average fall during a period of 17 months?
Answer: 50%

Question: What was the percentage the Dow Jones fell in the Great Depression?
Answer: 54.7%

Question: Who was the chief financial correspondent of The New York Times in March 2009?
Answer: Floyd Norris
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One of the first victims was Northern Rock, a medium-sized British bank. The highly leveraged nature of its business led the bank to request security from the Bank of England. This in turn led to investor panic and a bank run in mid-September 2007. Calls by Liberal Democrat Treasury Spokesman Vince Cable to nationalise the institution were initially ignored; in February 2008, however, the British government (having failed to find a private sector buyer) relented, and the bank was taken into public hands. Northern Rock's problems proved to be an early indication of the troubles that would soon befall other banks and financial institutions.

Question: Which medium sized British bank was the first victim of the financial crisis?
Answer: Northern Rock

Question: Who did Northern Rock request security from?
Answer: Bank of England

Question: When did Northern Rock investors panic and a bank run begin?
Answer: September 2007

Question: When was Northern Rock taken into public hands?
Answer: February 2008

Question: Which bank early problems in 2007 were an indicator of the troubles that would soon befall other banks and financial institutions?
Answer: Northern Rock
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The first visible institution to run into trouble in the United States was the Southern California–based IndyMac, a spin-off of Countrywide Financial. Before its failure, IndyMac Bank was the largest savings and loan association in the Los Angeles market and the seventh largest mortgage originator in the United States. The failure of IndyMac Bank on July 11, 2008, was the fourth largest bank failure in United States history up until the crisis precipitated even larger failures, and the second largest failure of a regulated thrift. IndyMac Bank's parent corporation was IndyMac Bancorp until the FDIC seized IndyMac Bank. IndyMac Bancorp filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy in July 2008.

Question: Which financial institution was the first one visible to run into trouble in the United States?
Answer: IndyMac

Question: Who was Southern California-based IndyMac a spin-off of?
Answer: Countrywide Financial

Question: Before its failure, which savings and loan association was the seventh largest mortgage originator in the United States?
Answer: IndyMac Bank

Question: On what date did IndyMac fail?
Answer: July 11, 2008

Question: Who was IndyMac's parent corporation?
Answer: IndyMac Bancorp
Financial_crisis_of_2007%E2%80%9308

IndyMac often made loans without verification of the borrower’s income or assets, and to borrowers with poor credit histories. Appraisals obtained by IndyMac on underlying collateral were often questionable as well. As an Alt-A lender, IndyMac’s business model was to offer loan products to fit the borrower’s needs, using an extensive array of risky option-adjustable-rate-mortgages (option ARMs), subprime loans, 80/20 loans, and other nontraditional products. Ultimately, loans were made to many borrowers who simply could not afford to make their payments. The thrift remained profitable only as long as it was able to sell those loans in the secondary mortgage market. IndyMac resisted efforts to regulate its involvement in those loans or tighten their issuing criteria: see the comment by Ruthann Melbourne, Chief Risk Officer, to the regulating agencies.

Question: IndyMac often made loans without verifying what?
Answer: the borrower’s income

Question: What was questionable on IndyMac's underlying collateral?
Answer: Appraisals

Question: IndyMac gave loans to borrower's with what type credit histories?
Answer: poor

Question: IndyMac offered this type of questionable loans to borrowers?
Answer: risky

Question: IndyMac resisted efforts by regulators to tighten this criteria of their loans?
Answer: issuing criteria
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IndyMac reported that during April 2008, Moody's and Standard & Poor's downgraded the ratings on a significant number of Mortgage-backed security (MBS) bonds including $160 million of those issued by IndyMac and which the bank retained in its MBS portfolio. IndyMac concluded that these downgrades would have negatively impacted the Company's risk-based capital ratio as of June 30, 2008. Had these lowered ratings been in effect at March 31, 2008, IndyMac concluded that the bank's capital ratio would have been 9.27% total risk-based. IndyMac warned that if its regulators found its capital position to have fallen below "well capitalized" (minimum 10% risk-based capital ratio) to "adequately capitalized" (8–10% risk-based capital ratio) the bank might no longer be able to use brokered deposits as a source of funds.

Question: When did Moody's and Standard & Poor downgrade a significant number of IndyMac's MBS bonds?
Answer: April 2008

Question: What was the value of IndyMac's MBS bonds retained in its MBS portfolio that were downgraded in April 2008?
Answer: $160 million

Question: What was one of the agencies that downgraded a significant number of IndyMac's MBS bonds in April 2008?
Answer: Moody's

Question: If IndyMac's downgraded MBS bond ratings had been in effect at March 31, 2008, what would the bank's capital ratio have been?
Answer: 9.27%

Question: What is a well capitalized ratio?
Answer: minimum 10% risk-based
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Senator Charles Schumer (D-NY) would later point out that brokered deposits made up more than 37 percent of IndyMac's total deposits and ask the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) whether it had considered ordering IndyMac to reduce its reliance on these deposits. With $18.9 billion in total deposits reported on March 31, Senator Schumer would have been referring to a little over $7 billion in brokered deposits. While the breakout of maturities of these deposits is not known exactly, a simple averaging would have put the threat of brokered deposits loss to IndyMac at $500 million a month, had the regulator disallowed IndyMac from acquiring new brokered deposits on June 30.

Question: Who is the Senator that asked FDIC if it had considered ordering IndyMac to reduce its reliance on brokered deposits?
Answer: Charles Schumer (D-NY)

Question: What does the abbreviation FDIC stand for?
Answer: Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation

Question: How much of IndyMac's total deposits of $18.9 billion on March 31, 2008 were considered brokered deposits?
Answer: a little over $7 billion

Question: Had the FDIC disallowed IndyMac from acquiring new brokered deposits on this date, the threat of brokered deposit losses would have been $500 million a month?
Answer: June 30

Question: How much was the threat of brokered deposit losses per month to IndyMac?
Answer: $500 million
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When home prices declined in the latter half of 2007 and the secondary mortgage market collapsed, IndyMac was forced to hold $10.7 billion of loans it could not sell in the secondary market. Its reduced liquidity was further exacerbated in late June 2008 when account holders withdrew $1.55 billion or about 7.5% of IndyMac's deposits. This “run” on the thrift followed the public release of a letter from Senator Charles Schumer to the FDIC and OTS. The letter outlined the Senator’s concerns with IndyMac. While the run was a contributing factor in the timing of IndyMac’s demise, the underlying cause of the failure was the unsafe and unsound manner in which the thrift was operated.

Question: What was the value of loans IndyMac was forced to hold when the secondary mortgage market collapsed in late 2007?
Answer: $10.7 billion

Question: How much in deposits did account holders withdraw from IndyMac in late June 2008?
Answer: $1.55 billion

Question: What percent of IndyMac's deposits were withdrawn by account holders in late June 2008?
Answer: 7.5%

Question: Who is the Senator that released a letter to the FDIC and OTS that prompted a "run" on IndyMac?
Answer: Charles Schumer

Question: What was the underlying cause of the failure on IndyMac?
Answer: unsafe and unsound manner in which the thrift was operated
Financial_crisis_of_2007%E2%80%9308

On July 11, 2008, citing liquidity concerns, the FDIC put IndyMac Bank into conservatorship. A bridge bank, IndyMac Federal Bank, FSB, was established to assume control of IndyMac Bank's assets, its secured liabilities, and its insured deposit accounts. The FDIC announced plans to open IndyMac Federal Bank, FSB on July 14, 2008. Until then, depositors would have access their insured deposits through ATMs, their existing checks, and their existing debit cards. Telephone and Internet account access was restored when the bank reopened. The FDIC guarantees the funds of all insured accounts up to US$100,000, and has declared a special advance dividend to the roughly 10,000 depositors with funds in excess of the insured amount, guaranteeing 50% of any amounts in excess of $100,000. Yet, even with the pending sale of Indymac to IMB Management Holdings, an estimated 10,000 uninsured depositors of Indymac are still at a loss of over $270 million.

Question: On what date did the FDIC put IndyMac Bank into conservatorship?
Answer: July 11, 2008

Question: What was the name of the bridge bank established to assume control of IndyMac Bank's assets, liabilities and deposit accounts?
Answer: IndyMac Federal Bank, FSB

Question: On what date did the FDIC plan to open IndyMac Federal Bank, FSB?
Answer: July 14, 2008

Question: What is the maximum amount of funds the FDIC guarantees in insured accounts?
Answer: US$100,000

Question: How many IndyMac account holders held funds in excess of the FDIC's insured amount of US$100,000?
Answer: roughly 10,000 depositors
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Initially the companies affected were those directly involved in home construction and mortgage lending such as Northern Rock and Countrywide Financial, as they could no longer obtain financing through the credit markets. Over 100 mortgage lenders went bankrupt during 2007 and 2008. Concerns that investment bank Bear Stearns would collapse in March 2008 resulted in its fire-sale to JP Morgan Chase. The financial institution crisis hit its peak in September and October 2008. Several major institutions either failed, were acquired under duress, or were subject to government takeover. These included Lehman Brothers, Merrill Lynch, Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, Washington Mutual, Wachovia, Citigroup, and AIG. On Oct. 6, 2008, three weeks after Lehman Brothers filed the largest bankruptcy in U.S. history, Lehman's former CEO found himself before Representative Henry A. Waxman, the California Democrat who chaired the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform. Fuld said he was a victim of the collapse, blaming a "crisis of confidence" in the markets for dooming his firm.

Question: How many mortgage lenders went bankrupt during 2007 and 2008?
Answer: Over 100

Question: Who is the investment bank that was feared to collapse in March 2008 and was sold in a fire-sale to JP Morgan Chase?
Answer: Bear Stearns

Question: When did the financial institution crisis hit its peak?
Answer: September and October 2008

Question: When did Lehman's former CEO appear before Representative Henry A. Waxman?
Answer: Oct. 6, 2008

Question: What firm filed the largest bankruptcy in U.S. history?
Answer: Lehman Brothers
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In September 2008, the crisis hit its most critical stage. There was the equivalent of a bank run on the money market funds, which frequently invest in commercial paper issued by corporations to fund their operations and payrolls. Withdrawal from money markets were $144.5 billion during one week, versus $7.1 billion the week prior. This interrupted the ability of corporations to rollover (replace) their short-term debt. The U.S. government responded by extending insurance for money market accounts analogous to bank deposit insurance via a temporary guarantee and with Federal Reserve programs to purchase commercial paper. The TED spread, an indicator of perceived credit risk in the general economy, spiked up in July 2007, remained volatile for a year, then spiked even higher in September 2008, reaching a record 4.65% on October 10, 2008.

Question: When did the financial crisis hit its most critical stage?
Answer: September 2008

Question: The equivalent of a bank run on which funds occurred in September 2008?
Answer: money market funds

Question: What do money market funds frequently invest in?
Answer: commercial paper issued by corporations

Question: How much was withdrawn from money markets during one week in September 2008?
Answer: $144.5 billion

Question: What was the record high for the TED spread on October 10, 2008?
Answer: 4.65%
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Economist Paul Krugman and U.S. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner explain the credit crisis via the implosion of the shadow banking system, which had grown to nearly equal the importance of the traditional commercial banking sector as described above. Without the ability to obtain investor funds in exchange for most types of mortgage-backed securities or asset-backed commercial paper, investment banks and other entities in the shadow banking system could not provide funds to mortgage firms and other corporations.

Question: Economist Paul Krugman explained the credit crisis via the implosion of which system?
Answer: shadow banking system

Question: What is the system with nearly equal the importance of traditional commercial banking?
Answer: shadow banking system

Question: The shadow banking system could not provide funds to mortgage firms and other corporations without the ability to obtain which funds?
Answer: investor funds

Question: What was Timothy Geithner's position during the fall of 2008?
Answer: U.S. Treasury Secretary
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This meant that nearly one-third of the U.S. lending mechanism was frozen and continued to be frozen into June 2009. According to the Brookings Institution, the traditional banking system does not have the capital to close this gap as of June 2009: "It would take a number of years of strong profits to generate sufficient capital to support that additional lending volume". The authors also indicate that some forms of securitization are "likely to vanish forever, having been an artifact of excessively loose credit conditions". While traditional banks have raised their lending standards, it was the collapse of the shadow banking system that is the primary cause of the reduction in funds available for borrowing.

Question: How much of the U.S. lending mechanism was frozen until June 2009?
Answer: nearly one-third

Question: What is the primary cause of the reduction in funds available for borrowing?
Answer: the collapse of the shadow banking system

Question: What institution reported that the traditional banking systems does not have the capital to close the gap in the lending mechanism?
Answer: Brookings Institution

Question: What is likely to vanish forever, as a result of excessively loose credit conditions?
Answer: some forms of securitization

Question: As of June 2009, the Brookings Institution reports that traditional banking system does not have enough of what to close the lending gap?
Answer: capital
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There is a direct relationship between declines in wealth and declines in consumption and business investment, which along with government spending, represent the economic engine. Between June 2007 and November 2008, Americans lost an estimated average of more than a quarter of their collective net worth.[citation needed] By early November 2008, a broad U.S. stock index the S&P 500, was down 45% from its 2007 high. Housing prices had dropped 20% from their 2006 peak, with futures markets signaling a 30–35% potential drop. Total home equity in the United States, which was valued at $13 trillion at its peak in 2006, had dropped to $8.8 trillion by mid-2008 and was still falling in late 2008. Total retirement assets, Americans' second-largest household asset, dropped by 22%, from $10.3 trillion in 2006 to $8 trillion in mid-2008. During the same period, savings and investment assets (apart from retirement savings) lost $1.2 trillion and pension assets lost $1.3 trillion. Taken together, these losses total a staggering $8.3 trillion. Since peaking in the second quarter of 2007, household wealth is down $14 trillion.

Question: How much net worth did Americans lose between June 2007 and November 2008?
Answer: more than a quarter

Question: In November 2008, how much was the U.S. stock index down from its 2007 high?
Answer: 45%

Question: In November 2008, how much had housing prices drop from their 2006 peak?
Answer: 20%

Question: How much was home equity valued in the United States at its peak in 2006?
Answer: $13 trillion

Question: How much was home equity valued in the United States in mid-2008?
Answer: $8.8 trillion
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In November 2008, economist Dean Baker observed: "There is a really good reason for tighter credit. Tens of millions of homeowners who had substantial equity in their homes two years ago have little or nothing today. Businesses are facing the worst downturn since the Great Depression. This matters for credit decisions. A homeowner with equity in her home is very unlikely to default on a car loan or credit card debt. They will draw on this equity rather than lose their car and/or have a default placed on their credit record. On the other hand, a homeowner who has no equity is a serious default risk. In the case of businesses, their creditworthiness depends on their future profits. Profit prospects look much worse in November 2008 than they did in November 2007... While many banks are obviously at the brink, consumers and businesses would be facing a much harder time getting credit right now even if the financial system were rock solid. The problem with the economy is the loss of close to $6 trillion in housing wealth and an even larger amount of stock wealth.

Question: According to economist Dean Baker, a homeowner who has no equity if this type default risk?
Answer: serious

Question: What is one of the major problems with the economy in November 2008?
Answer: loss of close to $6 trillion in housing wealth

Question: How many homeowners who had substantial equity in their homes two years ago, have little no equity as of November 2008?
Answer: Tens of millions

Question: What does the creditworthiness of businesses depend on?
Answer: future profits

Question: How did profit prospects for businesses look in November 2008 compared to November 2007?
Answer: much worse
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Several commentators have suggested that if the liquidity crisis continues, an extended recession or worse could occur. The continuing development of the crisis has prompted fears of a global economic collapse although there are now many cautiously optimistic forecasters in addition to some prominent sources who remain negative. The financial crisis is likely to yield the biggest banking shakeout since the savings-and-loan meltdown. Investment bank UBS stated on October 6 that 2008 would see a clear global recession, with recovery unlikely for at least two years. Three days later UBS economists announced that the "beginning of the end" of the crisis had begun, with the world starting to make the necessary actions to fix the crisis: capital injection by governments; injection made systemically; interest rate cuts to help borrowers. The United Kingdom had started systemic injection, and the world's central banks were now cutting interest rates. UBS emphasized the United States needed to implement systemic injection. UBS further emphasized that this fixes only the financial crisis, but that in economic terms "the worst is still to come". UBS quantified their expected recession durations on October 16: the Eurozone's would last two quarters, the United States' would last three quarters, and the United Kingdom's would last four quarters. The economic crisis in Iceland involved all three of the country's major banks. Relative to the size of its economy, Iceland’s banking collapse is the largest suffered by any country in economic history.

Question: In 2008, what type collapse was feared?
Answer: global economic collapse

Question: What investment bank stated on October 6 that 2008 would see a global recession lasting for at least two years?
Answer: UBS

Question: On October 16, 2008, how long did UBS predict the United States' recession would last?
Answer: three quarters

Question: Relative to the size of its economy, what country's banking collapse was the largest experienced by any country in economic history?
Answer: Iceland

Question: What was one of the actions taken by government to fix the financial crisis?
Answer: capital injection
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The Brookings Institution reported in June 2009 that U.S. consumption accounted for more than a third of the growth in global consumption between 2000 and 2007. "The US economy has been spending too much and borrowing too much for years and the rest of the world depended on the U.S. consumer as a source of global demand." With a recession in the U.S. and the increased savings rate of U.S. consumers, declines in growth elsewhere have been dramatic. For the first quarter of 2009, the annualized rate of decline in GDP was 14.4% in Germany, 15.2% in Japan, 7.4% in the UK, 18% in Latvia, 9.8% in the Euro area and 21.5% for Mexico.

Question: According to The Brookings Institution report in June 2009, how much growth did U.S. consumption account for between 2000 and 2007?
Answer: more than a third

Question: For the first quarter of 2009, what was the annualized rate of decline in GDP in Germany?
Answer: 14.4%

Question: For the first quarter of 2009, what was the annualized rate of decline in GDP in Mexico?
Answer: 21.5%

Question: Who depended on the U.S. consumer as a source of global demand?
Answer: the rest of the world

Question: What is one reason for the decline in growth around the world in 2009?
Answer: recession in the U.S.
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Some developing countries that had seen strong economic growth saw significant slowdowns. For example, growth forecasts in Cambodia show a fall from more than 10% in 2007 to close to zero in 2009, and Kenya may achieve only 3–4% growth in 2009, down from 7% in 2007. According to the research by the Overseas Development Institute, reductions in growth can be attributed to falls in trade, commodity prices, investment and remittances sent from migrant workers (which reached a record $251 billion in 2007, but have fallen in many countries since). This has stark implications and has led to a dramatic rise in the number of households living below the poverty line, be it 300,000 in Bangladesh or 230,000 in Ghana. Especially states with a fragile political system have to fear that investors from Western states withdraw their money because of the crisis. Bruno Wenn of the German DEG recommends to provide a sound economic policymaking and good governance to attract new investors

Question: What is the growth forecast for Cambodia in 2009?
Answer: close to zero

Question: How much were remittances sent from migrant workers in 2007?
Answer: $251 billion

Question: How many people live below the poverty line in Bangladesh?
Answer: 300,000

Question: What does Bruno Wenn of the German DEG recommend to attract new investors?
Answer: sound economic policymaking and good governance

Question: According to Overseas Development Institute, what is one reason for the reduction in growth in developing countries?
Answer: falls in trade
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The World Bank reported in February 2009 that the Arab World was far less severely affected by the credit crunch. With generally good balance of payments positions coming into the crisis or with alternative sources of financing for their large current account deficits, such as remittances, Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) or foreign aid, Arab countries were able to avoid going to the market in the latter part of 2008. This group is in the best position to absorb the economic shocks. They entered the crisis in exceptionally strong positions. This gives them a significant cushion against the global downturn. The greatest impact of the global economic crisis will come in the form of lower oil prices, which remains the single most important determinant of economic performance. Steadily declining oil prices would force them to draw down reserves and cut down on investments. Significantly lower oil prices could cause a reversal of economic performance as has been the case in past oil shocks. Initial impact will be seen on public finances and employment for foreign workers.

Question: What area of the world was less severely affected by the credit crunch according to The World Bank report In February 2009?
Answer: Arab World

Question: What does the abbreviation FDI stand for?
Answer: Foreign Direct Investment

Question: Arab countries entered the financial crisis in exceptionally strong positions giving them a cushion against this?
Answer: global downturn

Question: What will have the greatest impact on the global economic crisis?
Answer: lower oil prices

Question: What is the single most important determinant of economic performance?
Answer: oil prices
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The output of goods and services produced by labor and property located in the United States—decreased at an annual rate of approximately 6% in the fourth quarter of 2008 and first quarter of 2009, versus activity in the year-ago periods. The U.S. unemployment rate increased to 10.1% by October 2009, the highest rate since 1983 and roughly twice the pre-crisis rate. The average hours per work week declined to 33, the lowest level since the government began collecting the data in 1964. With the decline of gross domestic product came the decline in innovation. With fewer resources to risk in creative destruction, the number of patent applications flat-lined. Compared to the previous 5 years of exponential increases in patent application, this stagnation correlates to the similar drop in GDP during the same time period.

Question: What was the annual rate of decrease for the output of goods and services produced by labor and property in 4Q 2008 and 1Q 2009?
Answer: 6%

Question: What was the U.S. unemployment rate in October 2009?
Answer: 10.1%

Question: The U.E. employment rate was 10.2% in October 2009, which was the highest rate since what year?
Answer: 1983

Question: What was the average hours per work week in October 2009?
Answer: 33

Question: The decline of gross domestic product also caused a decline in innovation, evidenced by the flat-lining of what?
Answer: patent applications
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Typical American families did not fare as well, nor did those "wealthy-but-not wealthiest" families just beneath the pyramid's top. On the other hand, half of the poorest families did not have wealth declines at all during the crisis. The Federal Reserve surveyed 4,000 households between 2007 and 2009, and found that the total wealth of 63 percent of all Americans declined in that period. 77 percent of the richest families had a decrease in total wealth, while only 50 percent of those on the bottom of the pyramid suffered a decrease.

Question: How many of the poorest families did not have any wealth decline during the financial crisis?
Answer: half

Question: In a Federal Reserve survey of 4,000 households, what percent reported wealth decline between 2007 and 2009?
Answer: 63

Question: How many of the richest families had a decrease in total wealth between 2007 and 2009?
Answer: 77

Question: How many families at the bottom of the pyramid had a decrease in total wealth between 2007 and 2009?
Answer: 50

Question: Which families experienced the least decline in wealth between 2007 and 2009?
Answer: poorest families