The Subprime Crisis: Lessons for Business Students

The first major global economic contraction of the 21st century, or the "Great Recession", as it is more commonly known, began in December of 2007, and would prove to be one of the most catastrophic economic events in postmodern history. The bursting of the American housing bubble and the subprime mortgage crisis that followed are widely attributed as being the primary causes for this economic downturn.The content of this book presents an in-depth analysis of several of the leading causes of the subprime crisis, as well as the subsequent measures that were used to contain a widespread economic recession. It is the aim of this book to provide adequate information and tools for readers to gain insight on how we can prevent the same mistakes from happening again. This analysis also explores an interesting question when considering public policy; was the economic disaster, that ensued, caused by overzealous consumers who borrowed more than they could afford, or was it caused by institutional entities that gambled away the American economy?

Jaime Luque joined the University of Wisconsin-Madison as assistant professor in the Department of Real Estate and Urban Land Economics at the Wisconsin School of Business (WSB) in September 2012. Prior to joining WSB, he was a visiting professor at the Carlos III University of Madrid.

Jaime's main academic research applies general equilibrium theory to mortgages and securities markets. He has also written on the economics of the European Union, including the necessity of a fiscal union and the impact of the sovereign crisis on credit markets. His recent work focuses on the role of the credit scoring technology in the evolution of the subprime mortgage market. Jaime's research has been published in journals such as Journal of Economic Theory, Journal of Public Economics, and Regional Science and Urban Economics. He has also written opinion pieces for the Financial Times, Expansion, La Republica, and the Huffington Post, as well as for the Vox.eu, Eurointelligence, and The Conversation economics op-ed sites.

Jaime's teaching specializations at the Wisconsin School of Business include real estate finance and urban economics.