Abstract

This essay aims at outline the theoretical discussions about the financial crises.
Three approaches explain the event: the monetarist, the asymmetric information approach
and the financial instability hypothesis. The first one proved inadequate when confronted
with experience. The other two have in common the attempt to include the financial market
with all its institutions in the economic analysis. Nevertheless, they differ in the conception
about the operating mode of the economy.

JEL Classification: E32; G28.