Which 2008 crisis followed the collapse of the U.S. housing and mortgage markets?

The global financial crisis was the 2007–2008 crisis that followed the collapse of the U.S. housing and mortgage markets.

Many U.S. mortgages had been packaged into securities and sold throughout the financial system. When house prices fell and mortgage defaults increased, investors questioned the value of those securities. Losses spread through banks, insurers, money markets, and other institutions.

The failure of Lehman Brothers on September 15, 2008, intensified the panic. Stock markets plunged, credit became difficult to obtain, and governments introduced emergency lending, guarantees, and capital injections. The crisis produced the Great Recession, the most severe global downturn since the 1930s.

The crisis is sometimes dated from 2007, when mortgage-related stress became visible, or from 2008, when it became an acute worldwide emergency. The housing collapse was central, but excessive leverage and weak risk controls also mattered.