Minsky Moments, Russell Chickens, and Gray Swans--The Methodological Puzzles of the Financial Instability Analysis

Alessandro Vercelli

Economics Working Paper Archive from Levy Economics Institute

Abstract: The recent revival of Hyman P. Minsky's ideas among policymakers, economists, bankers, financial institutions, and the mass media, synchronized with the increasing gravity of the subprime financial crisis, demands a reappraisal of the meaning and scope of the "financial instability hypothesis" (FIH). We argue that we need a broader approach than that conventionally pursued, in order to understand not only financial crises but also the periods of financial calm between them and the transition from stability to instability. In this paper we aim to contribute to this challenging task by restating the strictly financial part of the FIH on the basis of a generalization of Minsky's taxonomy of economic units. In light of this restatement, we discuss a few methodological issues that have to be clarified in order to develop the FIH in the most promising direction.

Keywords: Financial Instability; Financial Fragility; Financial Fluctuations; Subprime Crisis; Minsky Moments; Minsky Meltdown; Speculative Units; Hedge Units; Ponzi Units; Business Cycles (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: B50 E E32 E44 G (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2009-11
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-hpe, nep-mac and nep-pke
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (2)

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