In the wake of the collapse of Lehman Brothers in September 2008, most industrialized economies went into recession. Many feared the global economy would experience a depression similar to the Great Depression in the 1930s. Thus, policymakers and academics have revisited the Great Depression to draw some lessons useful for avoiding similar situation in the near future. In this seminar, Professor Barry Eichengreen will discuss the findings of the paper, "From Great Depression to Global Credit Crisis: Similarities, Differences and Lessons" which he co-authored with Miguel Almunia, Agustín S. Bénétrix, Kevin H. O'Rourke, and Gisela Rua. The paper assesses the effectiveness of current policy responses by analyzing monetary and fiscal policies in the 1930s as a "natural experiment" or "counterfactual" capable of shedding light on the impact of recent policies.

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