Which global financial crisis began in 2007 and produced the severe worldwide stock-market crash of 2008?

The worldwide stock-market crash of 2008 was produced by the Global Financial Crisis, which began in 2007.

The crisis grew from a housing and credit boom, especially in the United States. Banks and other institutions held large exposures to mortgage-linked securities, including instruments tied to risky subprime loans. When U.S. house prices fell and mortgage defaults increased, confidence in financial institutions weakened.

The failure of Lehman Brothers on September 15, 2008, intensified the panic. Credit markets froze, banks faced losses, and stock markets around the world plunged. Governments and central banks responded with emergency lending, bank rescues, fiscal measures, and sharp interest-rate cuts.

The crisis is often associated only with the U.S. housing market, but its effects were global. It caused recessions, unemployment, public-debt pressures, and long-lasting changes in financial regulation.