What is a Financial Crisis? Perceptions, memories, analyses in a long-run historical perspective
London School of Economics and Political Science, 17-18 June 2024
The recent collapse of the Silicon Valley Bank and the takeover of banking giant Credit Suisse by UBS, ‘orchestrated’ by the Swiss financial and monetary authorities, have again raised the spectre of financial crises. But should these events be considered as a financial crisis, the prelude of a financial crisis, or a financial turbulence? What do they have in common with such shocks as the Baring Crisis of 1890, the crisis of Crédit Lyonnais, in 1994, or the collapse of Long-Term Capital Management in 1998? And how do we compare the failure of a large financial institutions with crises threatening the collapse of the financial system, such as the Great Depression, the International Debt Crisis of 1982, or the Global Financial Crisis of 2008?
There are different types of financial crises (banking crises, stock market crises, currency crises, sovereign defaults) each with different degrees of intensity. But how should we judge and measure this intensity? ‘Objectively’, through quantitative measures designed by economists? Or ‘subjectively’, through the ways financial crises have been experienced by financial actors and remembered and narrated by later generations? Can the two approaches be combined? Which one is more likely to determine the behaviour of financial actors faced with growing financial instability and the risk of a financial crisis?
By asking the question ‘what is a financial crisis?’, the aim of this conference is to open a discussion on the various definitions, understandings, analyses, narratives, and memories of financial crises from various disciplinary viewpoints (history, economics, politics, sociology, law) as well as professional perspectives (academics, regulators, financial actors, politicians, journalists).
The conference will take a long-term historical perspective, from the mid-nineteenth to the early twenty-first century. It will consider both case studies and more general pieces, either concerned with financial crises taking place in advanced or emerging economies or with the interactions between financial shocks in emerging economies and their effects in advanced economies.
This conference is organised within the framework of the ERC funded project ‘The Memory of Financial Crises: Financial Actors and Global Risk” (MERCATOR), directed by Prof. Youssef Cassis The Memory of Financial Crises: Financial Actors and Global Risk (eui.eu)
The scientific committee is composed of Professor Youssef Cassis (LSE, Robert Schuman Center, EUI), Professor Olivier Accominotti (LSE), Dr Sabine Schneider (LSE), Dr Niccolò Valmori (LSE, Robert Schuman Center, EUI). The organising committee is composed of Tracy Keefe (t.j.keefe@lse.ac.uk) and Kamilah Hassan (k.hassan4@lse.ac.uk).
Scholars interested in the conference are invited to submit a paper abstract of no more than 350 words, along with a short CV (250 words), to the conference organisers by 31st October 2023. The short CV and paper abstract should be uploaded here. Decisions about the acceptance of papers will be communicated by 6th December 2023. Submission of full papers is expected by 31st March 2024.
The organisers will offer lunches, dinners, and coffee breaks to all participants. Limited funds are available for travel and accommodation expenses, which participants are expected to cover through their own institution.
Please your abstract here: https://forms.gle/