Financial_crisis_of_2007%E2%80%9308

qas: question: What action in 2007 by national governments prevented the collapse of large financial institutions?
answers: text: bailout of banks

question: How much estimated consumer wealth was lost as a result of the financial crisis of 2007?
answers: text: trillions of U.S. dollars

question: What is the date the active phase of the financial crisis began as a liquidity crisis?
answers: text: August 9, 2007

question: What year did the global recession that followed the financial crisis of 2007 end?
answers: text: 2012

question: What was the name of the company that terminated withdrawals from three hedge funds in 2007 citing a liquidity crisis?
answers: text: BNP Paribas
context: It threatened the collapse of large financial institutions, which was prevented by the bailout of banks by national governments, but stock markets still dropped worldwide. In many areas, the housing market also suffered, resulting in evictions, foreclosures and prolonged unemployment. The crisis played a significant role in the failure of key businesses, declines in consumer wealth estimated in trillions of U.S. dollars, and a downturn in economic activity leading to the 2008–2012 global recession and contributing to the European sovereign-debt crisis. The active phase of the crisis, which manifested as a liquidity crisis, can be dated from August 9, 2007, when BNP Paribas terminated withdrawals from three hedge funds citing "a complete evaporation of liquidity".

qas: question: What year did the U.S. housing bubble peak?
answers: text: 2004

question: What year did Congress pass the American Recover and Reinvestment Act?
answers: text: 2009

question: Overvaluation of bundled subprime mortgages was based on the theory that housing prices would continue to do this?
answers: text: escalate

question: One of the causes of the financial crisis was easier access to loans by this type borrower?
answers: text: subprime

question: In 2007, banks and insurance companies did not have adequate holdings of which type to back their financial commitments?
answers: text: capital
context: The bursting of the U.S. (United States) housing bubble, which peaked in 2004, caused the values of securities tied to U.S. real estate pricing to plummet, damaging financial institutions globally. The financial crisis was triggered by a complex interplay of policies that encouraged home ownership, providing easier access to loans for subprime borrowers, overvaluation of bundled subprime mortgages based on the theory that housing prices would continue to escalate, questionable trading practices on behalf of both buyers and sellers, compensation structures that prioritize short-term deal flow over long-term value creation, and a lack of adequate capital holdings from banks and insurance companies to back the financial commitments they were making. Questions regarding bank solvency, declines in credit availability and damaged investor confidence had an impact on global stock markets, where securities suffered large losses during 2008 and early 2009. Economies worldwide slowed during this period, as credit tightened and international trade declined. Governments and central banks responded with unprecedented fiscal stimulus, monetary policy expansion and institutional bailouts. In the U.S., Congress passed the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009.

qas: question: What is the name of the U.S. Senate report giving their conclusions for the cause of the crisis?
answers: text: Levin–Coburn Report

question: Which act was repealed in 1999 effectively removing the separation between investment and deposit banks?
answers: text: Glass-Steagall Act

question: What is the name of the commission who concluded the financial crisis was avoidable?
answers: text: Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission

question: What agency failed to accurately price risk involved in mortgage-related financial products?
answers: text: credit rating agencies

question: What practices should have been adjusted by governments to address 21st-century financial markets?
answers: text: regulatory
context: Many causes for the financial crisis have been suggested, with varying weight assigned by experts. The U.S. Senate's Levin–Coburn Report concluded that the crisis was the result of "high risk, complex financial products; undisclosed conflicts of interest; the failure of regulators, the credit rating agencies, and the market itself to rein in the excesses of Wall Street." The Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission concluded that the financial crisis was avoidable and was caused by "widespread failures in financial regulation and supervision", "dramatic failures of corporate governance and risk management at many systemically important financial institutions", "a combination of excessive borrowing, risky investments, and lack of transparency" by financial institutions, ill preparation and inconsistent action by government that "added to the uncertainty and panic", a "systemic breakdown in accountability and ethics", "collapsing mortgage-lending standards and the mortgage securitization pipeline", deregulation of over-the-counter derivatives, especially credit default swaps, and "the failures of credit rating agencies" to correctly price risk. The 1999 repeal of the Glass-Steagall Act effectively removed the separation between investment banks and depository banks in the United States. Critics argued that credit rating agencies and investors failed to accurately price the risk involved with mortgage-related financial products, and that governments did not adjust their regulatory practices to address 21st-century financial markets. Research into the causes of the financial crisis has also focused on the role of interest rate spreads.

qas: question: What are MBS as related to the housing and credit booms?
answers: text: mortgage-backed securities

question: What are CDO as related to the housing and credit booms?
answers: text: collateralized debt obligations

question: When housing prices declined, who reported significant losses from being heavily invested in subprime MBS?
answers: text: major global financial institutions

question: Who could invest in the U.S. housing market through MBS and CDO?
answers: text: institutions and investors around the world

question: MBS and CDO derive their value from?
answers: text: mortgage payments and housing prices
context: As part of the housing and credit booms, the number of financial agreements called mortgage-backed securities (MBS) and collateralized debt obligations (CDO), which derived their value from mortgage payments and housing prices, greatly increased. Such financial innovation enabled institutions and investors around the world to invest in the U.S. housing market. As housing prices declined, major global financial institutions that had borrowed and invested heavily in subprime MBS reported significant losses.

qas: question: What year did the foreclosure epidemic begin?
answers: text: late 2006

question: How much are total losses estimated to be from falling home prices?
answers: text: trillions of U.S. dollars

question: What is the financial incentive when a home is worth less than the mortgage loan?
answers: text: foreclosure

question: What other financial instruments had significant defaults and losses as a result of the crisis expanding from housing to other parts of the economy?
answers: text: other loan types

question: What continues to drain consumer wealth and erode the strength of banks?
answers: text: foreclosure epidemic
context: Falling prices also resulted in homes worth less than the mortgage loan, providing a financial incentive to enter foreclosure. The ongoing foreclosure epidemic that began in late 2006 in the U.S. continues to drain wealth from consumers and erodes the financial strength of banking institutions. Defaults and losses on other loan types also increased significantly as the crisis expanded from the housing market to other parts of the economy. Total losses are estimated in the trillions of U.S. dollars globally.

qas: question: What institutions comprise the shadow banking system?
answers: text: investment banks and hedge funds

question: What institutions are not subject to the same regulations as commercial banks?
answers: text: investment banks and hedge funds

question: What process caused the financial system to both expand and become fragile?
answers: text: financialization

question: What policy has U.S. Government emphasized from the 1970's onward?
answers: text: deregulation

question: Since the 1970's, what has emphasized deregulation to encourage business, but resulted in less oversight and less disclosure?
answers: text: U.S. Government policy
context: While the housing and credit bubbles were building, a series of factors caused the financial system to both expand and become increasingly fragile, a process called financialization. U.S. Government policy from the 1970s onward has emphasized deregulation to encourage business, which resulted in less oversight of activities and less disclosure of information about new activities undertaken by banks and other evolving financial institutions. Thus, policymakers did not immediately recognize the increasingly important role played by financial institutions such as investment banks and hedge funds, also known as the shadow banking system. Some experts believe these institutions had become as important as commercial (depository) banks in providing credit to the U.S. economy, but they were not subject to the same regulations.

qas: question: Some regulated banks did not have sufficient financial cushions in place to absorb what losses as a result of the financial crisis of 2007?
answers: text: MBS

question: What was a consequence of the large loan defaults and MBS losses in 2007?
answers: text: slowing economic activity

question: Who provided funds to encourage lending and restore faith in commercial banks in the aftermath of the financial crisis of 2007?
answers: text: central banks

question: Who bailed out key financial institutions and implemented economic stimulus programs as an answer to the financial crisis of 2007?
answers: text: Governments

question: What impacted the ability of financial institutions to lend in the financial crisis of 2007?
answers: text: large loan defaults or MBS losses
context: These institutions, as well as certain regulated banks, had also assumed significant debt burdens while providing the loans described above and did not have a financial cushion sufficient to absorb large loan defaults or MBS losses. These losses impacted the ability of financial institutions to lend, slowing economic activity. Concerns regarding the stability of key financial institutions drove central banks to provide funds to encourage lending and restore faith in the commercial paper markets, which are integral to funding business operations. Governments also bailed out key financial institutions and implemented economic stimulus programs, assuming significant additional financial commitments.

qas: question: When did the U.S. Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission report its findings?
answers: text: January 2011

question: What was one of  the conclusions of the U.S. Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission regarding the financial crisis of 2007?
answers: text: the crisis was avoidable and was caused by: widespread failures in financial regulation

question: What agency failed to stem the tide of toxic mortgages contributing to the financial crisis of 2007?
answers: text: Federal Reserve

question: Who was not prepared for the financial crisis in 2007 by lacking a full understanding of the financial system?
answers: text: key policy makers

question: Which business sector contributed to the financial crisis by acting recklessly and taking on too much risk?
answers: text: financial firms
context: The U.S. Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission reported its findings in January 2011. It concluded that "the crisis was avoidable and was caused by: widespread failures in financial regulation, including the Federal Reserve’s failure to stem the tide of toxic mortgages; dramatic breakdowns in corporate governance including too many financial firms acting recklessly and taking on too much risk; an explosive mix of excessive borrowing and risk by households and Wall Street that put the financial system on a collision course with crisis; key policy makers ill prepared for the crisis, lacking a full understanding of the financial system they oversaw; and systemic breaches in accountability and ethics at all levels".

qas: question: What caused mortgage lenders to relax underwriting standards and approve riskier mortgages?
answers: text: tough competition

question: In what year were high underwriting standards relaxed?
answers: text: 2003

question: What years were the worst mortgage loans originated?
answers: text: 2004–2007

question: What years had the most intense competition between securitizers and the lowest market share for GSEs?
answers: text: 2004–2007

question: Who policed mortgage originators and maintained relatively high standards prior to 2003?
answers: text: government-sponsored enterprises (GSEs)
context: During a period of tough competition between mortgage lenders for revenue and market share, and when the supply of creditworthy borrowers was limited, mortgage lenders relaxed underwriting standards and originated riskier mortgages to less creditworthy borrowers. In the view of some analysts, the relatively conservative government-sponsored enterprises (GSEs) policed mortgage originators and maintained relatively high underwriting standards prior to 2003. However, as market power shifted from securitizers to originators and as intense competition from private securitizers undermined GSE power, mortgage standards declined and risky loans proliferated. The worst loans were originated in 2004–2007, the years of the most intense competition between securitizers and the lowest market share for the GSEs.

qas: question: How many Democratic appointees wrote the majority report of the Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission?
answers: text: six

question: Who claimed that the GSE never purchased subprime loans - a claim that is widely disputed?
answers: text: Paul Krugman

question: Several reports written by various agencies  concluded that which policy was not the primary cause of the financial crisis?
answers: text: government affordable housing policy

question: How many Republican appointees wrote the minority report of the Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission?
answers: text: 4

question: According to reports, which loans performed better than some loans securitized by private investment banks?
answers: text: GSE loans
context: The majority report of the Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission, written by the six Democratic appointees, the minority report, written by 3 of the 4 Republican appointees, studies by Federal Reserve economists, and the work of several independent scholars generally contend that government affordable housing policy was not the primary cause of the financial crisis. Although they concede that governmental policies had some role in causing the crisis, they contend that GSE loans performed better than loans securitized by private investment banks, and performed better than some loans originated by institutions that held loans in their own portfolios. Paul Krugman has even claimed that the GSE never purchased subprime loans – a claim that is widely disputed.

qas: question: Which government-sponsored entities had massive risky loan purchases?
answers: text: Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac

question: How many estimated substandard loans did Fannie and Freddie have in 2008? 
answers: text: 13 million

question: What was the value of the estimated 13 million substandard loans held by Fannie and Freddie in 2008?
answers: text: over $2 trillion

question: How many ex-executives of Fannie and Freddie were named in the SEC's December 2011 securities fraud case?
answers: text: 6

question: Peter J. Wallison believes that the one of the roots of the financial crisis can be traced to affordable housing policies by which agency in the 1990s?
answers: text: HUD
context: In his dissent to the majority report of the Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission, American Enterprise Institute fellow Peter J. Wallison stated his belief that the roots of the financial crisis can be traced directly and primarily to affordable housing policies initiated by HUD in the 1990s and to massive risky loan purchases by government-sponsored entities Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. Later, based upon information in the SEC's December 2011 securities fraud case against 6 ex-executives of Fannie and Freddie, Peter Wallison and Edward Pinto estimated that, in 2008, Fannie and Freddie held 13 million substandard loans totaling over $2 trillion.

qas: question: Which administration called for investigation into the soundness of GSEs in the early and mid-2000s?
answers: text: Bush administration

question: Who uncovered accounting discrepancies in Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac?
answers: text: Office of Federal Housing Enterprise Oversight (OFHEO)

question: On what date did the House Financial Services Committee hold a hearing to assess safety and soundness issues regarding Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac?
answers: text: September 10, 2003

question: What was the result of the House Financial Services Committee on September 10, 2003 regarding Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac?
answers: text: The hearings never resulted in new legislation or formal investigation

question: Who rebuked OFHEO in 2003 for their attempt at regulation of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac?
answers: text: House Financial Services Committee
context: In the early and mid-2000s, the Bush administration called numerous times for investigation into the safety and soundness of the GSEs and their swelling portfolio of subprime mortgages. On September 10, 2003, the House Financial Services Committee held a hearing at the urging of the administration to assess safety and soundness issues and to review a recent report by the Office of Federal Housing Enterprise Oversight (OFHEO) that had uncovered accounting discrepancies within the two entities. The hearings never resulted in new legislation or formal investigation of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, as many of the committee members refused to accept the report and instead rebuked OFHEO for their attempt at regulation. Some believe this was an early warning to the systemic risk that the growing market in subprime mortgages posed to the U.S. financial system that went unheeded.

qas: question: What was the value of mortgage lending made by Community Reinvestment Act covered lenders to low and mid level income borrowers and neighborhoods from 1993-1998?
answers: text: $467 billion

question: What percent of mortgage lending was made by Community Reinvestment Act covered lenders from 1993 to 1998?
answers: text: 10%

question: What does CRA stand for?
answers: text: Community Reinvestment Act

question: What percent of sub-prime lending occurred at CRA-covered institutions in the run-up to the financial crisis?
answers: text: 25%

question: What percent of sub-prime loans had some connection with CRA in the run-up to the financial crisis?
answers: text: 25%
context: A 2000 United States Department of the Treasury study of lending trends for 305 cities from 1993 to 1998 showed that $467 billion of mortgage lending was made by Community Reinvestment Act (CRA)-covered lenders into low and mid level income (LMI) borrowers and neighborhoods, representing 10% of all U.S. mortgage lending during the period. The majority of these were prime loans. Sub-prime loans made by CRA-covered institutions constituted a 3% market share of LMI loans in 1998, but in the run-up to the crisis, fully 25% of all sub-prime lending occurred at CRA-covered institutions and another 25% of sub-prime loans had some connection with CRA. In addition, an analysis by the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas in 2009, however, concluded that the CRA was not responsible for the mortgage loan crisis, pointing out that CRA rules have been in place since 1995 whereas the poor lending emerged only a decade later. Furthermore, most sub-prime loans were not made to the LMI borrowers targeted by the CRA, especially in the years 2005–2006 leading up to the crisis. Nor did it find any evidence that lending under the CRA rules increased delinquency rates or that the CRA indirectly influenced independent mortgage lenders to ramp up sub-prime lending.

qas: question: When did CRA make rule changes to relax underwriting standards?
answers: text: 1995

question: How much were CRA loan commitments between 1994 and 2007?
answers: text: $4.5 trillion

question: What was the Federal Reserve's assumption regarding what makes a loan subprime?
answers: text: high-interest-rate loans (3 percentage points over average)

question: How did the Federal Reserve classify CRA loans?
answers: text: prime

question: When were ultra-low interest rates initiated by the Federal Reserve?
answers: text: after the terrorist attack on September 11, 2001
context: To other analysts the delay between CRA rule changes (in 1995) and the explosion of subprime lending is not surprising, and does not exonerate the CRA. They contend that there were two, connected causes to the crisis: the relaxation of underwriting standards in 1995 and the ultra-low interest rates initiated by the Federal Reserve after the terrorist attack on September 11, 2001. Both causes had to be in place before the crisis could take place. Critics also point out that publicly announced CRA loan commitments were massive, totaling $4.5 trillion in the years between 1994 and 2007. They also argue that the Federal Reserve’s classification of CRA loans as “prime” is based on the faulty and self-serving assumption that high-interest-rate loans (3 percentage points over average) equal “subprime” loans.

qas: question: What financial innovation enabled investment banks and hedge funds to make large wagers?
answers: text: credit default swaps, collateralized debt obligations and synthetic CDOs.

question: Credit default swaps, collateralized debt obligations and CDOS are all types of what?
answers: text: derivatives

question: Which magazine had an article where Michael Lewis spoke with a trader about bad loans?
answers: text: Portfolio Magazine

question: What financial innovation allows investment banks and hedge banks to make large wagers?
answers: text: derivatives

question: What are some names of derivatives?
answers: text: credit default swaps, collateralized debt obligations and synthetic CDOs
context: Others have pointed out that there were not enough of these loans made to cause a crisis of this magnitude. In an article in Portfolio Magazine, Michael Lewis spoke with one trader who noted that "There weren’t enough Americans with [bad] credit taking out [bad loans] to satisfy investors' appetite for the end product." Essentially, investment banks and hedge funds used financial innovation to enable large wagers to be made, far beyond the actual value of the underlying mortgage loans, using derivatives called credit default swaps, collateralized debt obligations and synthetic CDOs.

qas: question: Peter J. Wallison believes that the huge number of these loans led to the financial crisis?
answers: text: substandard

question: What type downpayments do substandard loans generally have?
answers: text: low or no downpayments

question: According to Peter J. Wallison, why did the U.S. residential housing bubble led to financial crisis?
answers: text: it was supported by a huge number of substandard loans

question: Other countries had large residential housing bubbles that deflated during what years?
answers: text: 1997–2007

question: Peter J. Wallison's conclusions regarding the financial crisis are not in agreement with this economist's views?
answers: text: Krugman
context: Countering Krugman, Peter J. Wallison wrote: "It is not true that every bubble—even a large bubble—has the potential to cause a financial crisis when it deflates." Wallison notes that other developed countries had "large bubbles during the 1997–2007 period" but "the losses associated with mortgage delinquencies and defaults when these bubbles deflated were far lower than the losses suffered in the United States when the 1997–2007 [bubble] deflated." According to Wallison, the reason the U.S. residential housing bubble (as opposed to other types of bubbles) led to financial crisis was that it was supported by a huge number of substandard loans – generally with low or no downpayments.

qas: question: Who believed that the growth of the commercial real estate bubble indicated that U.S. housing policy was not the cause of the crisis?
answers: text: Krugman

question: When did Xudong An and Anthony B. Sanders issue a report about commercial mortgage-backed securities?
answers: text: December 2010

question: According to business journalist Kimberly Amadeo, when did the first signs of decline in real estate occur?
answers: text: 2006

question: What are CMBS?
answers: text: commercial mortgage-backed securities

question: According to most analysts, what crisis took place after the crisis in residential real estate?
answers: text: the crisis in commercial real estate
context: Krugman's contention (that the growth of a commercial real estate bubble indicates that U.S. housing policy was not the cause of the crisis) is challenged by additional analysis. After researching the default of commercial loans during the financial crisis, Xudong An and Anthony B. Sanders reported (in December 2010): "We find limited evidence that substantial deterioration in CMBS [commercial mortgage-backed securities] loan underwriting occurred prior to the crisis." Other analysts support the contention that the crisis in commercial real estate and related lending took place after the crisis in residential real estate. Business journalist Kimberly Amadeo reports: "The first signs of decline in residential real estate occurred in 2006. Three years later, commercial real estate started feeling the effects. Denice A. Gierach, a real estate attorney and CPA, wrote:

qas: question: What is one investment assigned safe ratings by the credit rating agencies?
answers: text: collateralized debt obligation

question: How much was invested worldwide in fixed income investments?
answers: text: $70 trillion

question: How much did the pool of money invested worldwide in fixed income investments grow in size from 2000 to 2007?
answers: text: roughly doubled in size

question: What is an example of a product Wall Street invented to answer the demand for income generating investments?
answers: text: mortgage-backed security

question: In the 2000s, investors were seeking higher yields than those offered by this investment?
answers: text: U.S. Treasury bonds
context: In a Peabody Award winning program, NPR correspondents argued that a "Giant Pool of Money" (represented by $70 trillion in worldwide fixed income investments) sought higher yields than those offered by U.S. Treasury bonds early in the decade. This pool of money had roughly doubled in size from 2000 to 2007, yet the supply of relatively safe, income generating investments had not grown as fast. Investment banks on Wall Street answered this demand with products such as the mortgage-backed security and the collateralized debt obligation that were assigned safe ratings by the credit rating agencies.

qas: question: What is the name of the securities that enabled financial institutions to obtain investor funds to finance subprime?
answers: text: collateralized debt obligation

question: What was the outcome of collateralized debt obligations?
answers: text: extending or increasing the housing bubble

question: What type ratings did securities first in line receive from rating agencies?
answers: text: investment-grade ratings

question: What type pool do collateralized debt obligations place their payments from mortgages into?
answers: text: single pool

question: What securities had lower credit ratings but potentially a higher rate of return?
answers: text: Securities with lower priority
context: The collateralized debt obligation in particular enabled financial institutions to obtain investor funds to finance subprime and other lending, extending or increasing the housing bubble and generating large fees. This essentially places cash payments from multiple mortgages or other debt obligations into a single pool from which specific securities draw in a specific sequence of priority. Those securities first in line received investment-grade ratings from rating agencies. Securities with lower priority had lower credit ratings but theoretically a higher rate of return on the amount invested.

qas: question: How much had average U.S. housing prices declined by September 2008?
answers: text: over 20%

question: When was the peak of U.S. housing prices?
answers: text: mid-2006

question: How many foreclosure proceedings were initiated by lenders in 2007?
answers: text: nearly 1.3 million

question: What was the percentage increase on foreclosure proceedings from 2007 to 2008?
answers: text: 81%

question: How many U.S. mortgages were either delinquent or in foreclosure by September 2009?
answers: text: 14.4%
context: By September 2008, average U.S. housing prices had declined by over 20% from their mid-2006 peak. As prices declined, borrowers with adjustable-rate mortgages could not refinance to avoid the higher payments associated with rising interest rates and began to default. During 2007, lenders began foreclosure proceedings on nearly 1.3 million properties, a 79% increase over 2006. This increased to 2.3 million in 2008, an 81% increase vs. 2007. By August 2008, 9.2% of all U.S. mortgages outstanding were either delinquent or in foreclosure. By September 2009, this had risen to 14.4%.

qas: question: Was was the federal funds rate target lowered to by the Federal Reserve in 2003?
answers: text: 1.0%

question: What is one reason the Federal Reserve lowered the federal funds rate target to 1.0% in 2003?
answers: text: to combat a perceived risk of deflation

question: In the early 2000s, what type bubble did some economists believe the Fed needed to create to replace the Nasdaq bubble?
answers: text: a housing bubble

question: What contributed greatly to the severity of the financial crisis of 2007?
answers: text: excessive credit growth

question: What encouraged borrowing from 2000 to 2003?
answers: text: Lower interest rates
context: Lower interest rates encouraged borrowing. From 2000 to 2003, the Federal Reserve lowered the federal funds rate target from 6.5% to 1.0%. This was done to soften the effects of the collapse of the dot-com bubble and the September 2001 terrorist attacks, as well as to combat a perceived risk of deflation. As early as 2002 it was apparent that credit was fueling housing instead of business investment as some economists went so far as to advocate that the Fed "needs to create a housing bubble to replace the Nasdaq bubble". Moreover, empirical studies using data from advanced countries show that excessive credit growth contributed greatly to the severity of the crisis.

qas: question: Per Bernanke, how much did the U.S. current account deficit increase between 1996 and 2004?
answers: text: $650 billion

question: What percentage of GDP was the U.S. current account deficit in 2004?
answers: text: 5.8%

question: What emerging economies did the U.S. borrow money from between 1996 and 2004 to finance its imports?
answers: text: Asia and oil-exporting nations

question: What type account is needed by the U.S. to balance an account deficit?
answers: text: capital account

question: Where did the U.S. obtain capital to finance its imports?
answers: text: foreign funds
context: Bernanke explained that between 1996 and 2004, the U.S. current account deficit increased by $650 billion, from 1.5% to 5.8% of GDP. Financing these deficits required the country to borrow large sums from abroad, much of it from countries running trade surpluses. These were mainly the emerging economies in Asia and oil-exporting nations. The balance of payments identity requires that a country (such as the U.S.) running a current account deficit also have a capital account (investment) surplus of the same amount. Hence large and growing amounts of foreign funds (capital) flowed into the U.S. to finance its imports.

qas: question: When did the Fed begin raising Fed funds rate significantly?
answers: text: July 2004

question: What does ARM stand for:
answers: text: adjustable-rate mortgage

question: How do asset prices generally move in relation to interest rates?
answers: text: inversely

question: Beginning in July 2004, what did the Fed do to make ARM rates more expensive for homeowners?
answers: text: raised the Fed funds rate

question: How did U.S. housing and financial assets react to the housing bubble burst?
answers: text: dramatically declined in value
context: The Fed then raised the Fed funds rate significantly between July 2004 and July 2006. This contributed to an increase in 1-year and 5-year adjustable-rate mortgage (ARM) rates, making ARM interest rate resets more expensive for homeowners. This may have also contributed to the deflating of the housing bubble, as asset prices generally move inversely to interest rates, and it became riskier to speculate in housing. U.S. housing and financial assets dramatically declined in value after the housing bubble burst.

qas: question: Richard M. Bowen III testified to the Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission regarding his tenure at which financial institution?
answers: text: Citigroup

question: How many underwriters was Richard M. Bowen III responsible for at Citigroup?
answers: text: 220

question: What percent of mortgages purchased by Citigroup in 2006 were defective?
answers: text: 60%

question: In 2006, how many mortgage companies were contractually responsible to meet Citi's standards?
answers: text: 1,600

question: During 2007, what was the percent of defective mortgages not underwritten to Citi's standards?
answers: text: over 80%
context: Testimony given to the Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission by Richard M. Bowen III on events during his tenure as the Business Chief Underwriter for Correspondent Lending in the Consumer Lending Group for Citigroup (where he was responsible for over 220 professional underwriters) suggests that by the final years of the U.S. housing bubble (2006–2007), the collapse of mortgage underwriting standards was endemic. His testimony stated that by 2006, 60% of mortgages purchased by Citi from some 1,600 mortgage companies were "defective" (were not underwritten to policy, or did not contain all policy-required documents) – this, despite the fact that each of these 1,600 originators was contractually responsible (certified via representations and warrantees) that its mortgage originations met Citi's standards. Moreover, during 2007, "defective mortgages (from mortgage originators contractually bound to perform underwriting to Citi's standards) increased... to over 80% of production".

qas: question: Who was the largest residential loan due diligence and securitization surveillance company?
answers: text: Clayton Holdings

question: According to Clayton Holdings, how many mortgages issued from January 2006 to June 2007 met underwriting standards?
answers: text: 54%

question: How many investment and commercial banks were included in Clayton Holdings' analysis of January 2006 to June 2007 loans? 
answers: text: 23

question: Per Clayton's analysis of loans issued from January 2006 to June 2007, what percent of loans did not meet minimal standards of any issuer?
answers: text: 28%

question: How many mortgage loans did Clayton Holdings review in their analysis?
answers: text: 900,000
context: In separate testimony to Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission, officers of Clayton Holdings—the largest residential loan due diligence and securitization surveillance company in the United States and Europe—testified that Clayton's review of over 900,000 mortgages issued from January 2006 to June 2007 revealed that scarcely 54% of the loans met their originators’ underwriting standards. The analysis (conducted on behalf of 23 investment and commercial banks, including 7 "too big to fail" banks) additionally showed that 28% of the sampled loans did not meet the minimal standards of any issuer. Clayton's analysis further showed that 39% of these loans (i.e. those not meeting any issuer's minimal underwriting standards) were subsequently securitized and sold to investors.

qas: question: What is the name for lending that entices borrowers to enter into unsafe secured loans?
answers: text: Predatory lending

question: What company used a classic bait-and-switch method by advertising low interest rates?
answers: text: Countrywide Financial

question: Which type loan would the consumer be put into instead of the 1% or 1.5% interest rate loan as advertised?
answers: text: adjustable rate mortgage (ARM)

question: What was created when the interest charged was greater than the amount of interest paid?
answers: text: negative amortization

question: What type predatory lending method did Countrywide Financial use?
answers: text: classic bait-and-switch
context: Predatory lending refers to the practice of unscrupulous lenders, enticing borrowers to enter into "unsafe" or "unsound" secured loans for inappropriate purposes. A classic bait-and-switch method was used by Countrywide Financial, advertising low interest rates for home refinancing. Such loans were written into extensively detailed contracts, and swapped for more expensive loan products on the day of closing. Whereas the advertisement might state that 1% or 1.5% interest would be charged, the consumer would be put into an adjustable rate mortgage (ARM) in which the interest charged would be greater than the amount of interest paid. This created negative amortization, which the credit consumer might not notice until long after the loan transaction had been consummated.

qas: question: Who sued Countrywide for unfair business practices and false advertising?
answers: text: California Attorney General Jerry Brown

question: What type mortgages allowed homeowners to make interest-only payments?
answers: text: adjustable rate mortgages (ARMs)

question: What happened to home equity when housing prices decreased?
answers: text: disappeared

question: Who made the decision to seize Countrywide after their financial condition deteriorated?
answers: text: Office of Thrift Supervision

question: What type credit did borrowers obtaining mortgages from Countrywide have?
answers: text: weak credit
context: Countrywide, sued by California Attorney General Jerry Brown for "unfair business practices" and "false advertising" was making high cost mortgages "to homeowners with weak credit, adjustable rate mortgages (ARMs) that allowed homeowners to make interest-only payments". When housing prices decreased, homeowners in ARMs then had little incentive to pay their monthly payments, since their home equity had disappeared. This caused Countrywide's financial condition to deteriorate, ultimately resulting in a decision by the Office of Thrift Supervision to seize the lender.

qas: question: What economist believed that regulations did not keep up with financial innovation?
answers: text: Paul Krugman

question: Who was the U.S. Treasury Secretary dealing with the aftermath of the financial crisis of 2007?
answers: text: Timothy Geithner

question: Which group's study suggested that Basel accords encourage unconventional business practices?
answers: text: OECD

question: It has been argued that what did not keep up with financial innovation?
answers: text: regulatory framework

question: What accords possibly contributed to or reinforced the financial crisis?
answers: text: Basel
context: Critics such as economist Paul Krugman and U.S. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner have argued that the regulatory framework did not keep pace with financial innovation, such as the increasing importance of the shadow banking system, derivatives and off-balance sheet financing. A recent OECD study suggest that bank regulation based on the Basel accords encourage unconventional business practices and contributed to or even reinforced the financial crisis. In other cases, laws were changed or enforcement weakened in parts of the financial system. Key examples include:

qas: question: What did financial institutions do prior to the crisis?
answers: text: became highly leveraged

question: What type financial instruments are off-balance sheet securitization and derivatives?
answers: text: complex

question: Who bailed out financial institutions?
answers: text: government

question: Which option was nearly impossible for financial institutions to reorganize under?
answers: text: bankruptcy

question: What are the type financial instruments that were difficult for creditors and regulators to monitor?
answers: text: complex financial instruments
context: Prior to the crisis, financial institutions became highly leveraged, increasing their appetite for risky investments and reducing their resilience in case of losses. Much of this leverage was achieved using complex financial instruments such as off-balance sheet securitization and derivatives, which made it difficult for creditors and regulators to monitor and try to reduce financial institution risk levels. These instruments also made it virtually impossible to reorganize financial institutions in bankruptcy, and contributed to the need for government bailouts.

qas: question: How many U.S. investment banks significantly increased their financial leverage from 2004 to 2007?
answers: text: five

question: U.S. investment banks Increased their financial leverage and also increased their vulnerability to what?
answers: text: financial shock

question: Changes in what intended to keep U.S. banks competitive with their European counterparts?
answers: text: capital requirements

question: How much debt did the top five U.S. investment banks report in fiscal year 2007?
answers: text: over $4.1 trillion

question: What financial institution went bankrupt and was liquidated in 2007?
answers: text: Lehman Brothers
context: From 2004 to 2007, the top five U.S. investment banks each significantly increased their financial leverage (see diagram), which increased their vulnerability to a financial shock. Changes in capital requirements, intended to keep U.S. banks competitive with their European counterparts, allowed lower risk weightings for AAA securities. The shift from first-loss tranches to AAA tranches was seen by regulators as a risk reduction that compensated the higher leverage. These five institutions reported over $4.1 trillion in debt for fiscal year 2007, about 30% of USA nominal GDP for 2007. Lehman Brothers went bankrupt and was liquidated, Bear Stearns and Merrill Lynch were sold at fire-sale prices, and Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley became commercial banks, subjecting themselves to more stringent regulation. With the exception of Lehman, these companies required or received government support. Lehman reported that it had been in talks with Bank of America and Barclays for the company's possible sale. However, both Barclays and Bank of America ultimately declined to purchase the entire company.

qas: question: What is an example of something that can be detrimental if too many individuals pursue the same behavior?
answers: text: saving more during adverse economic conditions

question: What is it called when too many consumers attempt to save or pay down debt at the same time?
answers: text: paradox of thrift

question: What will happen if too many consumers save or pay down debt simultaneously?
answers: text: can cause or deepen a recession

question: Who is the economist who described a "paradox of deleveraging"?
answers: text: Hyman Minsky

question: Financial institutions cannot all de-leverage simultaneously without a decline in the value of this?
answers: text: their assets
context: Behavior that may be optimal for an individual (e.g., saving more during adverse economic conditions) can be detrimental if too many individuals pursue the same behavior, as ultimately one person's consumption is another person's income. Too many consumers attempting to save (or pay down debt) simultaneously is called the paradox of thrift and can cause or deepen a recession. Economist Hyman Minsky also described a "paradox of deleveraging" as financial institutions that have too much leverage (debt relative to equity) cannot all de-leverage simultaneously without significant declines in the value of their assets.

qas: question: Who was the U.S. Federal Reserve vice-chair in April 2009?
answers: text: Janet Yellen

question: What happened soon after the massive credit crunch hit?
answers: text: we were in a recession

question: What deepened the credit crunch when demand and employment fell?
answers: text: recession

question: What was one of the actions businesses took to preserve cash?
answers: text: cancelling planned investments

question: What occurred in nearly every corner of the economy after the financial crisis of 2007?
answers: text: balance sheet deleveraging
context: During April 2009, U.S. Federal Reserve vice-chair Janet Yellen discussed these paradoxes: "Once this massive credit crunch hit, it didn’t take long before we were in a recession. The recession, in turn, deepened the credit crunch as demand and employment fell, and credit losses of financial institutions surged. Indeed, we have been in the grips of precisely this adverse feedback loop for more than a year. A process of balance sheet deleveraging has spread to nearly every corner of the economy. Consumers are pulling back on purchases, especially on durable goods, to build their savings. Businesses are cancelling planned investments and laying off workers to preserve cash. And, financial institutions are shrinking assets to bolster capital and improve their chances of weathering the current storm. Once again, Minsky understood this dynamic. He spoke of the paradox of deleveraging, in which precautions that may be smart for individuals and firms—and indeed essential to return the economy to a normal state—nevertheless magnify the distress of the economy as a whole."

qas: question: What term refers to the ongoing development of financial products?
answers: text: financial innovation

question: What is an example of financial innovation pertinent to the financial crisis?
answers: text: adjustable-rate mortgage

question: What is the abbreviation for a form of credit insurance called credit default swaps?
answers: text: CDS

question: What is the financial innovation that bundles subprime mortgages?
answers: text: mortgage-backed securities (MBS)

question: What happened to the usage of financial innovation products in the years leading up the financial crisis?
answers: text: expanded dramatically
context: The term financial innovation refers to the ongoing development of financial products designed to achieve particular client objectives, such as offsetting a particular risk exposure (such as the default of a borrower) or to assist with obtaining financing. Examples pertinent to this crisis included: the adjustable-rate mortgage; the bundling of subprime mortgages into mortgage-backed securities (MBS) or collateralized debt obligations (CDO) for sale to investors, a type of securitization; and a form of credit insurance called credit default swaps (CDS). The usage of these products expanded dramatically in the years leading up to the crisis. These products vary in complexity and the ease with which they can be valued on the books of financial institutions.

qas: question: When did the issuance of CDO peak?
answers: text: Q1 2007

question: What was the estimated value of CDO issuance in Q1 2004?
answers: text: $20 billion

question: What was the estimated value of CDO issuance at it's peak in Q1 2007?
answers: text: over $180 billion

question: What percent of CDO assets were subprime and other non-prime mortgage debt in 2007?
answers: text: 36%

question: What was the estimated value of CDO issuance in Q1 2008?
answers: text: under $20 billion
context: CDO issuance grew from an estimated $20 billion in Q1 2004 to its peak of over $180 billion by Q1 2007, then declined back under $20 billion by Q1 2008. Further, the credit quality of CDO's declined from 2000 to 2007, as the level of subprime and other non-prime mortgage debt increased from 5% to 36% of CDO assets. As described in the section on subprime lending, the CDS and portfolio of CDS called synthetic CDO enabled a theoretically infinite amount to be wagered on the finite value of housing loans outstanding, provided that buyers and sellers of the derivatives could be found. For example, buying a CDS to insure a CDO ended up giving the seller the same risk as if they owned the CDO, when those CDO's became worthless.

qas: question: Which products created more complexity in the financial markets?
answers: text: innovative financial products

question: What effect did the introduction of innovative financial products have on a single mortgage?
answers: text: multiplied the number of actors connected

question: What did institutions rely more on as increasing distance from underlying assets occurred?
answers: text: indirect information

question: What is a type of indirect information that financial institutions and investors used to judge the risk?
answers: text: computer models of rating agencies

question: In what year did a group of computer scientists build a model for ratings produced by rating agencies that turned out to be accurate for what happened in 2006-2008?
answers: text: 2005
context: This boom in innovative financial products went hand in hand with more complexity. It multiplied the number of actors connected to a single mortgage (including mortgage brokers, specialized originators, the securitizers and their due diligence firms, managing agents and trading desks, and finally investors, insurances and providers of repo funding). With increasing distance from the underlying asset these actors relied more and more on indirect information (including FICO scores on creditworthiness, appraisals and due diligence checks by third party organizations, and most importantly the computer models of rating agencies and risk management desks). Instead of spreading risk this provided the ground for fraudulent acts, misjudgments and finally market collapse. In 2005 a group of computer scientists built a computational model for the mechanism of biased ratings produced by rating agencies, which turned out to be adequate to what actually happened in 2006–2008.[citation needed]

qas: question: What is a measurement of pricing of risk?
answers: text: interest rates or fees

question: What is the incremental compensation required by investors for taking on addition risk called?
answers: text: pricing of risk

question: According to several scholars, what prevented markets from correctly pricing risk before the crisis?
answers: text: lack of transparency about banks' risk exposures

question: How should risk levels have been disclosed according to several scholars?
answers: text: straightforward, readily understandable format

question: What was the outcome of the financial crisis since risk levels were not adequately disclosed?
answers: text: far more disruptive
context: The pricing of risk refers to the incremental compensation required by investors for taking on additional risk, which may be measured by interest rates or fees. Several scholars have argued that a lack of transparency about banks' risk exposures prevented markets from correctly pricing risk before the crisis, enabled the mortgage market to grow larger than it otherwise would have, and made the financial crisis far more disruptive than it would have been if risk levels had been disclosed in a straightforward, readily understandable format.

qas: question: What did market participants fail to measure accurately?
answers: text: risk inherent with financial innovation

question: What are the reasons market participants did not understand the impact financial innovation products would have?
answers: text: a variety of reasons

question: How much did JPMorgan estimate was the average recovery rate for high quality CDOs that had been liquidated?
answers: text: approximately 32 cents on the dollar

question: How much did JPMorgan estimate was the average recovery rate for mezzanine CDOs that had been liquidated?
answers: text: approximately five cents for every dollar

question: How much did banks estimate was the value of CDOs sold between late 2005 to the middle of 2007?
answers: text: $450bn
context: For a variety of reasons, market participants did not accurately measure the risk inherent with financial innovation such as MBS and CDOs or understand its impact on the overall stability of the financial system. For example, the pricing model for CDOs clearly did not reflect the level of risk they introduced into the system. Banks estimated that $450bn of CDO were sold between "late 2005 to the middle of 2007"; among the $102bn of those that had been liquidated, JPMorgan estimated that the average recovery rate for "high quality" CDOs was approximately 32 cents on the dollar, while the recovery rate for mezzanine CDO was approximately five cents for every dollar.

qas: question: What firm insured obligations of various financial institutions using credit default swaps?
answers: text: AIG

question: What does the abbreviation CDS stand for?
answers: text: credit default swaps

question: When did the government take over AIG?
answers: text: September 2008

question: How much money did taxpayers provide in government support to AIG during 2008 and early 2009?
answers: text: over $180 billion

question: What did AIG receive for promising to pay Party A in the event that Party B defaulted?
answers: text: a premium
context: Another example relates to AIG, which insured obligations of various financial institutions through the usage of credit default swaps. The basic CDS transaction involved AIG receiving a premium in exchange for a promise to pay money to party A in the event party B defaulted. However, AIG did not have the financial strength to support its many CDS commitments as the crisis progressed and was taken over by the government in September 2008. U.S. taxpayers provided over $180 billion in government support to AIG during 2008 and early 2009, through which the money flowed to various counterparties to CDS transactions, including many large global financial institutions.

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

question: What happened to financial assets that made them harder to value?
answers: text: more complex

question: Who did rating agencies rely on for information to rate financial innovation products?
answers: text: 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?
answers: text: the banks

question: Who reassured investors by showing the risk of complex financial innovation products was actually less than they proved to be?
answers: text: international bond rating agencies
context: 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."

qas: question: What led to bad investments by asset managers in over-priced credit assets?
answers: text: a conflict of interest

question: Who is compensated based on the volume of client assets they have under management?
answers: text: Professional investment managers

question: What is the incentive for asset managers to expand their assets under management?
answers: text: to maximize their compensation

question: What did many asset managers decide to do to the detriment of their clients?
answers: text: 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?
answers: text: plausible deniability
context: 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.

qas: question: Who published "Credit Correlation: Life After Copulas" in 2007?
answers: text: World Scientific

question: When did relevant warnings and research on CDOs appear in an article by Donnelly and Embrechts?
answers: text: 2006

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

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

question: What year did the book by Brigo, Pallavicini and Torresetti report warnings and research on CDOs?
answers: text: 2006
context: 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.

qas: question: Who was President and CEO of the New York Federal Reserve Bank in June 2008?
answers: text: Timothy Geithner

question: What year did Timothy Geithner become U.S. Treasury Secretary?
answers: text: 2009

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

question: What is the "parallel" banking system also called?
answers: text: 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?
answers: text: maturity mismatch
context: 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:

qas: question: When did the securitization markets supported by the shadow banking systems start to close down?
answers: text: spring of 2007

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

question: How much of the private credit markets become unavailable as a source of funds?
answers: text: 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?
answers: text: Brookings Institution

question: How many years would of strong profit would it take to generate enough capital to support additional lending?
answers: text: a number of years
context: 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."

qas: question: What economist testified to the Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission in January 2010?
answers: text: Mark Zandi

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

question: What was the value of CDOs at their peak in 2006?
answers: text: close to $2 trillion

question: What was the private issuance of CDOs in 2009?
answers: text: less than $150 billion

question: Almost all of the asset-backed issuance in 2009 was supported by what Federal Reserve program?
answers: text: TALF
context: 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."

qas: question: Following the collapse in the housing bubble, what happened to a number of commodity prices?
answers: text: Rapid increases

question: How much did the price of oil increase from early 2007 to 2008?
answers: text: 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?
answers: text: plunging

question: What is one of the reasons experts believe contributed to the volatilaty in oil prices in 2008? 
answers: text: monetary policy

question: Consumers tend to have less money to spend on other goods, when the price of which commodity is higher?
answers: text: gasoline
context: 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.

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

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

question: Who founded the Atlanta-based Intercontinental Exchange?
answers: text: Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley and BP

question: Who purchased the International Petroleum Exchange in 2001?
answers: text: IntercontinentalExchange (ICE)

question: Where are regulated future exchanges located?
answers: text: London and New York
context: 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.

qas: 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?
answers: text: Ailsa McKay

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

question: According to feminist economists McKay and Bjornholt, would type economics should be included in a reshaping?
answers: text: feminist economics

question: What do economists McKay and Bjornholt want to occur in the economy, economic theory, and economics profession?
answers: text: a reshaping
context: 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.

qas: question: Who was the current Governor of the Reserve Bank of India that predicted the crisis in 2005?
answers: text: Raghuram Rajan

question: When did Raghuram Rajan become chief economist the the International Monetary Fund?
answers: text: 2005

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

question: What was the name of Raghuram Rajan's controversial paper delivered in 2005?
answers: text: "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?
answers: text: tail risks
context: 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."

qas: question: Who was one of the only mainstream economist to predict the financial crisis?
answers: text: Raghuram Rajan

question: What did Raghuram Rajan speak of?
answers: text: Great Moderation

question: Who credit 12 heterodox economists with predicting the crisis in his research credits?
answers: text: Dirk Bezemer

question: How did the Austrian economic school regard the crisis?
answers: text: as a vindication

question: Which former Fed Chair confessed in Congressional testimony to being forced to return to lax monetary supply?
answers: text: Alan Greenspan
context: 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.

qas: question: Which magazine ran a cover story claiming that most economists failed to the the financial crisis?
answers: text: BusinessWeek

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

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

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

question: What was economist Roubini called by the New York Times for predicting a collapse of the housing market?
answers: text: "Dr. Doom"
context: 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".

qas: question: Who wrote the 2007 book The Black Swan?
answers: text: Nassim Nicholas Taleb

question: What journalist from the New York Times stated his believe in Nassim Nicholas Taleb?
answers: text: David Brooks

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

question: What did Nassim Nicholas Taleb make a fortune on by making a big financial bet?
answers: text: banking stocks
context: 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."

qas: question: Who is the market strategist that believes distinctions exist between the current crisis and the Great Depression?
answers: text: Phil Dow

question: How much did the Dow Jones average fall during a period of 17 months?
answers: text: 50%

question: What was the percentage the Dow Jones fell in the Great Depression?
answers: text: 54.7%

question: Who was the chief financial correspondent of The New York Times in March 2009?
answers: text: Floyd Norris
context: 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.

qas: question: Which medium sized British bank was the first victim of the financial crisis?
answers: text: Northern Rock

question: Who did Northern Rock request security from?
answers: text: Bank of England

question: When did Northern Rock investors panic and a bank run begin?
answers: text: September 2007

question: When was Northern Rock taken into public hands?
answers: text: February 2008

question: Which bank early problems in 2007 were an indicator of the troubles that would soon befall other banks and financial institutions?
answers: text: Northern Rock
context: 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.

qas: question: Which financial institution was the first one visible to run into trouble in the United States?
answers: text: IndyMac

question: Who was Southern California-based IndyMac a spin-off of?
answers: text: Countrywide Financial

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

question: On what date did IndyMac fail?
answers: text: July 11, 2008

question: Who was IndyMac's parent corporation?
answers: text: IndyMac Bancorp
context: 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.

qas: question: IndyMac often made loans without verifying what?
answers: text: the borrower’s income

question: What was questionable on IndyMac's underlying collateral?
answers: text: Appraisals

question: IndyMac gave loans to borrower's with what type credit histories?
answers: text: poor

question: IndyMac offered this type of questionable loans to borrowers?
answers: text: risky

question: IndyMac resisted efforts by regulators to tighten this criteria of their loans?
answers: text: issuing criteria
context: 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.

qas: question: When did Moody's and Standard & Poor downgrade a significant number of IndyMac's MBS bonds?
answers: text: April 2008

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

question: What was one of the agencies that downgraded a significant number of IndyMac's MBS bonds in April 2008?
answers: text: 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?
answers: text: 9.27%

question: What is a well capitalized ratio?
answers: text: minimum 10% risk-based
context: 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.

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

question: What does the abbreviation FDIC stand for?
answers: text: Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation

question: How much of IndyMac's total deposits of $18.9 billion on March 31, 2008 were considered brokered deposits?
answers: text: 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?
answers: text: June 30

question: How much was the threat of brokered deposit losses per month to IndyMac?
answers: text: $500 million
context: 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.

qas: question: What was the value of loans IndyMac was forced to hold when the secondary mortgage market collapsed in late 2007?
answers: text: $10.7 billion

question: How much in deposits did account holders withdraw from IndyMac in late June 2008?
answers: text: $1.55 billion

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

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

question: What was the underlying cause of the failure on IndyMac?
answers: text: unsafe and unsound manner in which the thrift was operated
context: 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.

qas: question: On what date did the FDIC put IndyMac Bank into conservatorship?
answers: text: 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?
answers: text: IndyMac Federal Bank, FSB

question: On what date did the FDIC plan to open IndyMac Federal Bank, FSB?
answers: text: July 14, 2008

question: What is the maximum amount of funds the FDIC guarantees in insured accounts?
answers: text: US$100,000

question: How many IndyMac account holders held funds in excess of the FDIC's insured amount of US$100,000?
answers: text: roughly 10,000 depositors
context: 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.

qas: question: How many mortgage lenders went bankrupt during 2007 and 2008?
answers: text: 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?
answers: text: Bear Stearns

question: When did the financial institution crisis hit its peak?
answers: text: September and October 2008

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

question: What firm filed the largest bankruptcy in U.S. history?
answers: text: Lehman Brothers
context: 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.

qas: question: When did the financial crisis hit its most critical stage?
answers: text: September 2008

question: The equivalent of a bank run on which funds occurred in September 2008?
answers: text: money market funds

question: What do money market funds frequently invest in?
answers: text: commercial paper issued by corporations

question: How much was withdrawn from money markets during one week in September 2008?
answers: text: $144.5 billion

question: What was the record high for the TED spread on October 10, 2008?
answers: text: 4.65%
context: 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.

qas: question: Economist Paul Krugman explained the credit crisis via the implosion of which system?
answers: text: shadow banking system

question: What is the system with nearly equal the importance of traditional commercial banking?
answers: text: 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?
answers: text: investor funds

question: What was Timothy Geithner's position during the fall of 2008?
answers: text: U.S. Treasury Secretary
context: 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.

qas: question: How much of the U.S. lending mechanism was frozen until June 2009?
answers: text: nearly one-third

question: What is the primary cause of the reduction in funds available for borrowing?
answers: text: 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?
answers: text: Brookings Institution

question: What is likely to vanish forever, as a result of excessively loose credit conditions?
answers: text: 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?
answers: text: capital
context: 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.

qas: question: How much net worth did Americans lose between June 2007 and November 2008?
answers: text: more than a quarter

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

question: In November 2008, how much had housing prices drop from their 2006 peak?
answers: text: 20%

question: How much was home equity valued in the United States at its peak in 2006?
answers: text: $13 trillion

question: How much was home equity valued in the United States in mid-2008?
answers: text: $8.8 trillion
context: 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.

qas: question: According to economist Dean Baker, a homeowner who has no equity if this type default risk?
answers: text: serious

question: What is one of the major problems with the economy in November 2008?
answers: text: 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?
answers: text: Tens of millions

question: What does the creditworthiness of businesses depend on?
answers: text: future profits

question: How did profit prospects for businesses look in November 2008 compared to November 2007?
answers: text: much worse
context: 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.

qas: question: In 2008, what type collapse was feared?
answers: text: global economic collapse

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

question: On October 16, 2008, how long did UBS predict the United States' recession would last?
answers: text: 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?
answers: text: Iceland

question: What was one of the actions taken by government to fix the financial crisis?
answers: text: capital injection
context: 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.

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

question: For the first quarter of 2009, what was the annualized rate of decline in GDP in Germany?
answers: text: 14.4%

question: For the first quarter of 2009, what was the annualized rate of decline in GDP in Mexico?
answers: text: 21.5%

question: Who depended on the U.S. consumer as a source of global demand?
answers: text: the rest of the world

question: What is one reason for the decline in growth around the world in 2009?
answers: text: recession in the U.S.
context: 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.

qas: question: What is the growth forecast for Cambodia in 2009?
answers: text: close to zero

question: How much were remittances sent from migrant workers in 2007?
answers: text: $251 billion

question: How many people live below the poverty line in Bangladesh?
answers: text: 300,000

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

question: According to Overseas Development Institute, what is one reason for the reduction in growth in developing countries?
answers: text: falls in trade
context: 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

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

question: What does the abbreviation FDI stand for?
answers: text: Foreign Direct Investment

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

question: What will have the greatest impact on the global economic crisis?
answers: text: lower oil prices

question: What is the single most important determinant of economic performance?
answers: text: oil prices
context: 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.

qas: 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?
answers: text: 6%

question: What was the U.S. unemployment rate in October 2009?
answers: text: 10.1%

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

question: What was the average hours per work week in October 2009?
answers: text: 33

question: The decline of gross domestic product also caused a decline in innovation, evidenced by the flat-lining of what?
answers: text: patent applications
context: 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.

qas: question: How many of the poorest families did not have any wealth decline during the financial crisis?
answers: text: half

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

question: How many of the richest families had a decrease in total wealth between 2007 and 2009?
answers: text: 77

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

question: Which families experienced the least decline in wealth between 2007 and 2009?
answers: text: poorest families
context: 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.

qas: question: On November 3, 2008, who predicted extremely weak GDP growth for the Eurozone in 2009?
answers: text: European Commission at Brussels

question: How much did the European Commission estimate the GDP growth for Eurozone countries would be in 2009?
answers: text: 0.1%

question: How much did the European Commission estimate the GDP growth for the UK would be in 2009?
answers: text: −1.0%

question: On November 6, in Washington, D.C., who predicted a worldwide recession for 2009?
answers: text: the IMF

question: On November 5, 2008, the Bank of England reduced their interest rate from 4.5% to what?
answers: text: 3%
context: On November 3, 2008, the European Commission at Brussels predicted for 2009 an extremely weak growth of GDP, by 0.1%, for the countries of the Eurozone (France, Germany, Italy, Belgium etc.) and even negative number for the UK (−1.0%), Ireland and Spain. On November 6, the IMF at Washington, D.C., launched numbers predicting a worldwide recession by −0.3% for 2009, averaged over the developed economies. On the same day, the Bank of England and the European Central Bank, respectively, reduced their interest rates from 4.5% down to 3%, and from 3.75% down to 3.25%. As a consequence, starting from November 2008, several countries launched large "help packages" for their economies.

qas: question: What have central banks around the world done to avoid the risk of a deflationary spiral?
answers: text: expand money supplies

question: What have governments done to offset the reduction in private sector demand?
answers: text: enacted large fiscal stimulus packages

question: What is the U.S. Federal Reserve's traditional role during a crisis?
answers: text: lender-of-last-resort

question: What did the U.S. Federal Reserve do to increase access to liquidity?
answers: text: expanded liquidity facilities

question: What type decline does lower wages and higher unemployment lead to?
answers: text: self-reinforcing decline
context: The U.S. Federal Reserve and central banks around the world have taken steps to expand money supplies to avoid the risk of a deflationary spiral, in which lower wages and higher unemployment lead to a self-reinforcing decline in global consumption. In addition, governments have enacted large fiscal stimulus packages, by borrowing and spending to offset the reduction in private sector demand caused by the crisis. The U.S. Federal Reserve's new and expanded liquidity facilities were intended to enable the central bank to fulfill its traditional lender-of-last-resort role during the crisis while mitigating stigma, broadening the set of institutions with access to liquidity, and increasing the flexibility with which institutions could tap such liquidity.

qas: question: What brought the global financial system to the brink of collapse?
answers: text: credit freeze

question: How much government debt and troubled private assets did central banks purchase during the last quarter of 2008?
answers: text: US$2.5 trillion

question: How much preferred stock did governments of European nations and the USA purchase in their major banks?
answers: text: $1.5 trillion

question: In October 2010, who was the Nobel laureate that explained how the U.S. Federal Reserve was creating currency to combat the liquidity trap?
answers: text: Joseph Stiglitz

question: What did the banks chose to do with the money created by the Federal Reserve instead of financing more domestic loans and refinancing mortgages?
answers: text: investing internationally in emerging markets
context: This credit freeze brought the global financial system to the brink of collapse. The response of the Federal Reserve, the European Central Bank, the Bank of England and other central banks was immediate and dramatic. During the last quarter of 2008, these central banks purchased US$2.5 trillion of government debt and troubled private assets from banks. This was the largest liquidity injection into the credit market, and the largest monetary policy action, in world history. Following a model initiated by the United Kingdom bank rescue package, the governments of European nations and the USA guaranteed the debt issued by their banks and raised the capital of their national banking systems, ultimately purchasing $1.5 trillion newly issued preferred stock in their major banks. In October 2010, Nobel laureate Joseph Stiglitz explained how the U.S. Federal Reserve was implementing another monetary policy —creating currency— as a method to combat the liquidity trap. By creating $600 billion and inserting[clarification needed] this directly into banks, the Federal Reserve intended to spur banks to finance more domestic loans and refinance mortgages. However, banks instead were spending the money in more profitable areas by investing internationally in emerging markets. Banks were also investing in foreign currencies, which Stiglitz and others point out may lead to currency wars while China redirects its currency holdings away from the United States.

qas: question: What was introduced by President Barack Obama in June 2009?
answers: text: a series of regulatory proposals

question: What was one of the items important to consumers that was addressed by the new regulatory proposals introduced in June 2009?
answers: text: consumer protection

question: Regulations were proposed by Obama in January 2010 to limit the ability of banks to engage in which type trading?
answers: text: proprietary

question: Who were proposed new regulations called "The Volcker Rule" named after?
answers: text: Paul Volcker

question: Who publicly argued for changes limiting the ability of banks to engage in proprietary trading?
answers: text: Paul Volcker
context: United States President Barack Obama and key advisers introduced a series of regulatory proposals in June 2009. The proposals address consumer protection, executive pay, bank financial cushions or capital requirements, expanded regulation of the shadow banking system and derivatives, and enhanced authority for the Federal Reserve to safely wind-down systemically important institutions, among others. In January 2010, Obama proposed additional regulations limiting the ability of banks to engage in proprietary trading. The proposals were dubbed "The Volcker Rule", in recognition of Paul Volcker, who has publicly argued for the proposed changes.

qas: question: When did the U.S. Senate first pass a financial reform bill?
answers: text: May 2010

question: When did the U.S. House first pass a financial reform bill?
answers: text: December 2009

question: What rule against proprietary trading was not part of legislation passed by either the Senate or House?
answers: text: Volcker Rule

question: Which bill gave regulators the discretion to prohibit proprietary trades?
answers: text: Senate
context: The U.S. Senate passed a reform bill in May 2010, following the House which passed a bill in December 2009. These bills must now be reconciled. The New York Times provided a comparative summary of the features of the two bills, which address to varying extent the principles enumerated by the Obama administration. For instance, the Volcker Rule against proprietary trading is not part of the legislation, though in the Senate bill regulators have the discretion but not the obligation to prohibit these trades.

qas: question: What did European regulators introduce to increase the oversight of banks?
answers: text: Basel III regulations

question: Critics argue that Basel III doesn't address which problem?
answers: text: faulty risk-weightings

question: Who argued that regulations led to excessive lending to risky governments?
answers: text: Johan Norberg

question: What was increased by Basel III regulations?
answers: text: capital ratios

question: What term describes creating risk-free assets out of high risk collateral?
answers: text: financial engineering
context: European regulators introduced Basel III regulations for banks. It increased capital ratios, limits on leverage, narrow definition of capital (to exclude subordinated debt), limit counter-party risk, and new liquidity requirements. Critics argue that Basel III doesn’t address the problem of faulty risk-weightings. Major banks suffered losses from AAA-rated created by financial engineering (which creates apparently risk-free assets out of high risk collateral) that required less capital according to Basel II. Lending to AA-rated sovereigns has a risk-weight of zero, thus increasing lending to governments and leading to the next crisis. Johan Norberg argues that regulations (Basel III among others) have indeed led to excessive lending to risky governments (see European sovereign-debt crisis) and the ECB pursues even more lending as the solution.

qas: question: When did the U.S. recession that began in December 2007 end?
answers: text: June 2009

question: When did the financial crisis appear to have ended?
answers: text: June 2009

question: What was the name of the article that appeared in TIME magazine in April 2009 declaring the crisis over?
answers: text: More Quickly Than It Began, The Banking Crisis Is Over."

question: On what date did President Barack Obama declare that the markets are stabilized?
answers: text: January 27, 2010

question: When does the United States Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission date the crisis to?
answers: text: 2008
context: The U.S. recession that began in December 2007 ended in June 2009, according to the U.S. National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER) and the financial crisis appears to have ended about the same time. In April 2009 TIME magazine declared "More Quickly Than It Began, The Banking Crisis Is Over." The United States Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission dates the crisis to 2008. President Barack Obama declared on January 27, 2010, "the markets are now stabilized, and we've recovered most of the money we spent on the banks."

qas: question: Who led global economic growth after the financial crisis?
answers: text: "emerging" and "developing" economies

question: How much global GDP did emerging and developing economies account for from 2007 to 2014?
answers: text: 69%

question: How much global GDP did "advanced" economies account for from 2007 to 2014?
answers: text: 31%

question: What economies led global economic growth prior to the financial crisis?
answers: text: Advanced economies

question: What relationship between advanced and emerging/developing was completely overturned by the financial crisis of 2007?
answers: text: global economic growth
context: Advanced economies led global economic growth prior to the financial crisis with "emerging" and "developing" economies lagging behind. The crisis completely overturned this relationship. The International Monetary Fund found that "advanced" economies accounted for only 31% of global GDP while emerging and developing economies accounted for 69% of global GDP from 2007 to 2014. In the tables, the names of emergent economies are shown in boldface type, while the names of developed economies are in Roman (regular) type.