The global credit crisis of 2007--2009: An examination of some of the causes, chronology, and unconventional monetary tools employed

This paper will first examine some of the causes over many years and conditions that evolved that preceded the 2007-2009 credit crisis as well as some of the events that took place in the midst of the crisis. More importantly, this paper will examine how central banks applied the generally prescribed first line defense in the form of conventional monetary policy to its full extent without complete or adequate satisfaction or result. The bulk of the paper is directed at a description and analysis of the unconventional monetary tools, that which has come to be called quantitative easing, that central banks may employ in instances where the demand for liquidity and the accompanying panic essentially overrun the liquidity levels normally associated with conventional monetary policy.