Global Credit Crisis: What, How, Why and When

Global Credit Crisis:
What, How, Why and When


Howard Hiller
Fixed Income Capital Markets
October 10, 2008



"You're right, we did it. We're very sorry. But thanks to you, we won't do it again.”
Ben Bernanke’s quip to Milton Friedman referring to the Fed’s responsibility for the Great Depression

Ben Bernanke, Chairman of the Federal Reserve
Conference to Honor Milton Friedman
University of Chicago, Chicago, Illinois
November 8, 2002


“If you have a bazooka in your pocket and people know it, you probably won't have to use it.”

Henry Paulson, Treasury Secretary
Testimony at the Senate Banking Committee on legislation to support Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac
July 15, 2008

“If banks feel they must keep on dancing while the music is playing and that at the end of the party the central bank will make sure everyone gets home safely, then over time the parties will become wilder and wilder.”
“That might not matter were the consequences limited to the party-goers. But they are not. When the party ends, some innocent bystanders may lose their homes altogether.”

Mervyn King, Governor of the Bank of England
British Bankers Association, London
June 10, 2008

hiller_global_credit_crisis.ppt