The great financial crisis in Finland and Sweden. The Nordic experience of financial liberalization

Abstract:
Following World War II, Nordic countries were commonly regarded as successful and stable economies. This perception was, however, shattered in the early 1990s when Finland and Sweden encountered severe financial crises. Here, the authors explore the symptoms of financial crisis – decreasing real income, soaring unemployment and exploding public deficits – and their devastating effects.

The book compares and contrasts the experiences of Finland and Sweden, then adopts an international perspective, encompassing the experiences of Asia, Latin America, Denmark and Norway. Lessons from the 1990s crisis are drawn, and possible solutions prescribed. The conclusion is that long-term effects of financial crises – financial liberalization and integration – are not as dramatic as the short-term effects, but may prove to be of greater importance over time. Only the future will show whether these long-term benefits will balance or even outweigh the enormous short-term costs of the crises.

Highly relevant to the current international financial crisis currently afflicting the world economy, this book will prove useful to economists and other social scientists with a general interest in financial crises, and to those with a more specific interest in the evolution and models of Scandinavian economies.

Contents:
1. Introduction - Lars Jonung, Jaakko Kiander and Pentti Vartia
2. The Great Financial Crisis in Finland and Sweden: The Dynamics of Boom, Bust and Recovery 1985–2000 - Lars Jonung, Jaakko Kiander and Pentti Vartia
3. Financial Crisis in Finland and Sweden: Similar But Not Quite the Same - Peter Englund and Vesa Vihriälä
4. The Crisis of the 1990s and Unemployment in Finland and Sweden - Klas Fregert and Jaakko Pehkonen
5. How Costly was the Crisis in Finland and Sweden? - Thomas Hagberg and Lars Jonung
6. The Boom and Bust Cycle in Finland and Sweden in an International Perspective - Lars Jonung, Ludger Schuknecht and Mika Tujula
7. The Boom and Bust Cycle in Norway - Erling Steigum
8. How did Denmark Avoid a Banking Crisis? - Claus Vastrup
9. The Nordic and Asian Crises: Common Causes, Different Outcomes? - Ari Kokko and Kenji Suzuki
10. Twelve Lessons from the Nordic Experience of Financial Liberalization - Lars Jonung