Bubbles, Banks, and Financial Stability

Abstract

This paper asks two main questions: (1) What makes some asset price bubbles more costly for the real economy than others? and (2)When do costly bubbles occur? We construct a model of rational bubbles under credit frictions and show that when bubbles held by banks burst this is followed by a costly financial crisis. In contrast, bubbles held by ordinary savers have relatively muted effects. Banks tend to invest in bubbles when financial liberalisation decreases their profitability.Rational bubbles, Financial Frictions, Financial Stability