The 2007-2008 Global Financial Crisis: The Causes, Effects, and Recoveries of the Most Impacted Economies

The 2007-2008 Global Financial Crisis is one that is not widely understood by many. The easy access to cheap credit and the global over-confidence leading up to 2008 both played a large factor in how economies were affected by the crisis. This paper looks at the stories of Spain, Portugal, Ireland, and Iceland leading up to, during, and after this crisis in order to discover how it happened and why it was so widespread. I explain three lessons that can be learned from this crisis in attempt to avoid this type of crisis in the future. First, countries were not automatically safe investments once they joined the European Monetary Union. Second, easy access to credit is not sustainable in the long run. Finally, confidence plays a main role in the performance of an economy, and the loss of confidence can be detrimental.