| Publication |
2011.
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| Summary/Abstract |
Sydney-When Lehman Brothers failed in September 2008, Australians felt dangerously exposed to what was locally dubbed the global financial crisis, or the "GFC." Government debt was low and its banks had not indulged in much American-style sub-prime housing lending or dubious financial engineering. But as a capital-importing and commodity-exporting economy, Australia would be highly vulnerable to a seizure in global financial markets and a collapse in world trade. And Australian families had borrowed too much, largely to finance what suddenly looked like a bubble in housing prices. This ultimately showed up in heavy foreign debt channelled through the banking system. Cracks appeared in the second-tier banks, sending a flood of cash into the big banks and under family mattresses.
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