Comparative research
Global economic crises database
A comparison framework for major disruptions. Similar labels do not imply identical causes, transmission, severity or policy options.
| crisis id | name | period | region | crisis type | transmission mechanism | institutional consequence | source ids | caveat |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| CR001 | South Sea and Mississippi bubbles | 1719–1720 | Britain and France | asset-price;public-finance | State-linked financial schemes and speculative booms collapsed, reshaping market regulation and public finance. | Assess case-specific reforms and policy responses; do not infer from label alone. | S025 | Separate the two systems. |
| CR002 | Panic of 1825 | 1825–1826 | Britain and international markets | banking;capital-flow | A credit boom and overseas-investment reversal produced failures and international transmission. | Assess case-specific reforms and policy responses; do not infer from label alone. | S025 | Detailed numerical claims need specialist sources. |
| CR003 | Panic of 1873 | 1873 onward | Europe and North America | banking;railway;property | Financial failures and investment reversal contributed to prolonged deflation and uneven weakness. | Assess case-specific reforms and policy responses; do not infer from label alone. | S032;S033 | Do not call the whole period a continuous depression everywhere. |
| CR004 | Baring crisis | 1890 | Argentina and London | sovereign;banking;capital-flow | Sovereign and railway exposure threatened a major London bank and prompted coordinated support. | Assess case-specific reforms and policy responses; do not infer from label alone. | S032;S033 | Use primary archives for transaction detail. |
| CR005 | Panic of 1907 | 1907 | United States | banking;liquidity | Runs and trust-company failures exposed institutional weaknesses and influenced central-bank reform. | Assess case-specific reforms and policy responses; do not infer from label alone. | S025 | Add Federal Reserve primary source before detailed publication. |
| CR006 | World War I financial disruption | 1914 | Global | market-closure;sovereign;trade | War brought market closures, controls and suspension of gold convertibility, ending the prewar order. | Assess case-specific reforms and policy responses; do not infer from label alone. | S033 | Systemic disruption rather than a normal recession. |
| CR007 | Great Depression | 1929–1933 | Global | banking;demand;policy;trade | Financial distress, monetary contraction, falling demand and policy constraints reinforced a global contraction. | Assess case-specific reforms and policy responses; do not infer from label alone. | S039;S040;S033 | Causal weights remain debated. |
| CR008 | Sterling crisis and gold exits | 1931 | Europe and global monetary system | currency;banking;sovereign | Banking pressure and reserve losses pushed countries off gold and altered recovery paths. | Assess case-specific reforms and policy responses; do not infer from label alone. | S033;S039 | Country timing matters. |
| CR009 | Oil and inflation shocks | 1973–1980 | Global | commodity;supply;policy | Energy-price shocks interacted with wage, productivity and monetary dynamics, producing inflation and weak growth. | Assess case-specific reforms and policy responses; do not infer from label alone. | S020;S033 | Not one event or one cause. |
| CR010 | Latin American debt crisis | 1982–1989 | Latin America and global banking | sovereign;interest-rate;banking | Higher rates, recession and debt structures made external obligations unsustainable across several countries. | Assess case-specific reforms and policy responses; do not infer from label alone. | S051;S055 | Country outcomes and restructurings differ. |
| CR011 | Japanese asset-price collapse | 1990s | Japan | property;equity;banking | Property and equity declines damaged bank and corporate balance sheets and contributed to prolonged weakness. | Assess case-specific reforms and policy responses; do not infer from label alone. | S060;S053 | Avoid a single-cause story. |
| CR012 | ERM crisis | 1992–1993 | Europe | currency;policy | Speculative pressure and divergent conditions forced parity changes and exits. | Assess case-specific reforms and policy responses; do not infer from label alone. | S033 | Detailed chronology needs central-bank sources. |
| CR013 | Mexican peso crisis | 1994–1995 | Mexico and global markets | currency;capital-flow;sovereign | Reserve loss and capital reversal led to devaluation, recession and international support. | Assess case-specific reforms and policy responses; do not infer from label alone. | S033;S053 | Use national sources for exact data. |
| CR014 | Asian financial crisis | 1997–1998 | East and Southeast Asia | currency;banking;corporate | Short-term external debt, currency mismatches and weak balance sheets amplified regional contagion. | Assess case-specific reforms and policy responses; do not infer from label alone. | S033;S053;S060 | Do not generalize one mechanism to all economies. |
| CR015 | Russian default and LTCM stress | 1998 | Russia and global markets | sovereign;liquidity;leverage | Default and devaluation triggered losses and a global liquidity shock that exposed leveraged positions. | Assess case-specific reforms and policy responses; do not infer from label alone. | S033;S053 | Separate the Russian crisis and LTCM chronology. |
| CR016 | Dot-com crash | 2000–2002 | United States and global technology markets | equity;investment | Technology valuations and investment fell sharply, causing recession in some economies but not a global banking crisis. | Assess case-specific reforms and policy responses; do not infer from label alone. | S025 | Distinguish market capitalization from output. |
| CR017 | Argentine default and currency-board collapse | 2001–2002 | Argentina | sovereign;currency;banking | Debt, recession and convertibility constraints culminated in default, banking restrictions and devaluation. | Assess case-specific reforms and policy responses; do not infer from label alone. | S051;S053 | Use national sources for exact chronology. |
| CR018 | Global financial crisis | 2007–2009 | Global | banking;property;funding;leverage | Mortgage-credit losses and fragile funding markets spread through leveraged financial institutions and trade. | Assess case-specific reforms and policy responses; do not infer from label alone. | S053;S059 | Separate observed mechanisms from later interpretation. |
| CR019 | Euro-area sovereign-bank crisis | 2010–2015 | Euro area | sovereign;banking;currency-union | Sovereign stress and bank exposure reinforced one another within an incomplete monetary union. | Assess case-specific reforms and policy responses; do not infer from label alone. | S053;S033 | Country and program effects differ. |
| CR020 | Commodity-price collapse | 2014–2016 | Commodity exporters | commodity;fiscal;currency | Falling prices reduced export and fiscal revenues, exposing concentration and currency vulnerabilities. | Assess case-specific reforms and policy responses; do not infer from label alone. | S065;S055 | Effects vary by commodity and policy buffers. |
| CR021 | COVID-19 economic shock | 2020 | Global | health;supply;demand;finance | A health emergency and containment measures created a synchronized output, employment and trade shock. | Assess case-specific reforms and policy responses; do not infer from label alone. | S056;S057 | Not a conventional cyclical recession. |
| CR022 | Pandemic-era supply and inflation shock | 2021–2023 | Global | supply;commodity;policy | Reopening demand, bottlenecks, energy and food shocks and policy conditions raised inflation across many economies. | Assess case-specific reforms and policy responses; do not infer from label alone. | S048;S065;S007 | Causal decomposition remains contested. |
| CR023 | Global monetary tightening | 2022–2024 | Global | interest-rate;debt;banking | Rapid policy-rate increases tightened financial conditions and revealed duration, liquidity and debt vulnerabilities. | Assess case-specific reforms and policy responses; do not infer from label alone. | S049;S053;S007 | Track central-bank decisions separately. |
| CR024 | Sovereign restructurings in the 2020s | 2020s | Multiple emerging/developing economies | sovereign;external;fiscal | Pandemic losses, currency depreciation, higher global rates and pre-existing vulnerabilities complicated debt service and restructuring. | Assess case-specific reforms and policy responses; do not infer from label alone. | S051;S052 | Do not group distinct cases into one causal template. |
Sources and versions
Claims on this page are grounded in the package's structured primary-source manifest. Follow the direct links to inspect the responsible publication and its version.
- S025: A Concise Economic History of the World
Rondo Cameron and Larry Neal · 2016. Fifth edition - S032: Globalization and History
Kevin H. O'Rourke and Jeffrey G. Williamson · 1999. Book - S033: Globalizing Capital: A History of the International Monetary System
Barry Eichengreen · 2008. Second edition - S039: The Great Depression
Federal Reserve History · 2013-11-22. Historical essay - S040: Nonmonetary Effects of the Financial Crisis in the Propagation of the Great Depression
Ben S. Bernanke · 1983. Peer-reviewed article - S020: World Energy Outlook 2025
International Energy Agency · 2025. 2025 edition; scenarios are not forecasts - S051: International Debt Report products
World Bank · 2025. Annual products - S055: Trade and Development Report
UN Trade and Development · 2025. Annual series - S060: The East Asian Miracle: Economic Growth and Public Policy
World Bank · 1993. Historical report - S053: Global Financial Stability Report
International Monetary Fund · 2026. Series landing page; cite exact issue - S059: Work of the FSB
Financial Stability Board. Living institutional resource - S065: Commodity Markets Outlook
World Bank · 2026. Series landing page; cite exact edition - S056: Global Economic Prospects, June 2020
World Bank · 2020-06. Historical archived issue - S057: World Economic Outlook, April 2020: The Great Lockdown
International Monetary Fund · 2020-04. Historical issue - S048: Inflation: Prices on the Rise
International Monetary Fund. Institutional explainer - S007: Annual Economic Report 2026
Bank for International Settlements · 2026-06-28. 2026 annual report - S049: Monetary Policy and Central Banking
International Monetary Fund · 2023. Living factsheet - S052: Fiscal Monitor
International Monetary Fund · 2026. Series landing page; cite exact issue
Review trigger: Review when the historical record, classifications or cited source versions materially change.