A situation in which the value of financial institutions or assets drops rapidly. A financial crisis is often associated with a panic or a run on the banks, in which investors sell off assets or withdraw money from savings accounts with the expectation that the value of those assets will drop if they remain at a financial institution.
nvestopedia explains Financial Crisis
A financial crisis can come as a result of institutions or assets being overvalued, and can be exacerbated by investor behavior. A rapid string of sell offs can further result in lower asset prices or more savings withdrawals. If left unchecked, the crisis can cause the economy to go into a recession or depression.
A situation in which the supply of money is outpaced by the demand for money. This means that liquidity is quickly evaporated because available money is withdrawn from banks (called a run), forcing banks either to sell other investments to make up for the shortfall or to collapse. See also recession.
What Does Asian Financial Crisis Mean?
Also called the "Asian Contagion", this was a series of currency devaluations and other events that spread through many Asian markets beginning in the summer of 1997. The currency markets first failed in Thailand as the result of the government's decision to no longer peg the local currency to the U.S. dollar. Currency declines spread rapidly throughout South Asia, in turn causing stock market declines, reduced import revenues and even government upheaval.
The Asian Financial Crisis was stemmed somewhat by financial intervention from the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank. However, market declines were also felt in the United States, Europe and Russia as the Asian economies slumped.
The global financial crisis, brewing for a while, really started to show its effects in the middle of 2008 and into 2009. Around the world stock markets have fallen, large financial institutions have distorted or