Which 2008 global crisis caused stock markets worldwide to plunge after the collapse of the U.S. housing bubble?

The 2008 global crisis that caused stock markets worldwide to plunge after the collapse of the U.S. housing bubble was the Global Financial Crisis.

The crisis grew from problems in the U.S. housing and credit markets. Mortgage lenders had issued many risky loans, while financial institutions packaged mortgage debt into securities held throughout the financial system. When U.S. house prices fell and mortgage defaults increased, the value of those securities became uncertain and banks became reluctant to lend to one another.

The failure of Lehman Brothers on September 15, 2008, intensified the panic. Stock markets fell sharply, credit contracted, and governments and central banks introduced emergency lending, guarantees, rescues, and stimulus measures. The turmoil spread across borders because banks and investors were internationally connected.

The crisis is sometimes dated from 2007, when credit-market stress became evident, rather than from 2008 alone. It also differs from the later European sovereign-debt crisis, which centered more specifically on government borrowing problems in the euro area.