It is known that a financial crisis is defined as a sharp decrease in the value of one or more types of assets. Assets can be understood as both tangible assets used in the production process (for example, machinery and equipment), and financial assets, as well as rights to own tangible capital or inventory. These can include, in particular, stocks, savings accounts, and rights to own special financial assets, which are also called derivatives (oil futures or currency contracts). When the value of certain assets suddenly drops, it often means bankruptcy or a sharp decrease in the value of the institutions that hold them. A financial crisis can take the form of a sudden collapse in the securities market or a sharp drop in the exchange rate of a particular state.

Such a sudden collapse in the value of assets can occur when "price bubbles" burst, which arise from the purchase and sale of a huge volume of assets of one or more types at prices significantly higher than their natural or real value. Let's give an example: let's say a house is rented for a hundred dollars a month, but its value on the market reaches a million dollars (here there is a clear discrepancy). A "bubble" occurs when significantly more money is spent on certain assets than is expected to be received from them in the form of income later. There is a speculative approach here: assets are bought and sold not to be used in accordance with their original purpose, but to benefit from price fluctuations [www.noorsoria.com/vb/showthered]. There are academic schools that try to prove that financial crises can occur without speculation; the market is never wrong, and if mistakes sometimes occur ("bubbles"), then this is as natural and inevitable a phenomenon as an earthquake or a volcanic eruption. Thus, the proponents of this approach defend financial speculation, reject any public or state control over it-despite the fact that it can generate financial crises and undermine the stability of the world economy.

THE CRISIS AND ITS CAUSES

Causes of the crisis. The current financial crisis that hit the world economy in 2008-2009, the" culprit " of which many experts consider the real estate market in the United States, was actually prepared by the entire objective course of economic development of the world economy. The fact is that the processes of globalization of the world economy that unfolded at the end of the 20th century were most intense in the credit and banking sector, in the field of capital export and operations on stock and currency exchanges. The globalization of financial markets has become far ahead of the same process in the areas of production and foreign trade exchange.

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As a result, the main form of capital export at the beginning of the XXI century. It was not private direct investment, but loan capital exports, which accounted for about 70% of total capital exports by 2005. At the same time, the bulk of the latter (up to 65%) was directed to industrialized countries, which was explained by their dominant position in the world economy and lower credit risks compared to developing countries.

At the same time, interbank transactions and transactions on stock and currency exchanges began to grow at an accelerated pace, with the daily volume of activity exceeding $ 2 trillion. USA [Global transition, 2004-2005]. It is very characteristic that at the same time, approximately 90% of operations on currency exchanges began to fall on speculative operations. Therefore, it is not surprising that the globalization of financial markets has been accompanied by an increase in their instability: over the past 20 years, more than 90 banking crises have occurred in the world.

It is another matter that until almost the mid-1990s, monetary and credit crises affecting the monetary and financial sphere usually had internal causes and almost never spread beyond the borders of a particular country. As for the global monetary and financial crises, they were confined to the center. Developing countries were mostly isolated from the speculative flow of capital by the underdevelopment of their foreign exchange and financial markets, restrictions on the activities of foreign investment funds, and the irreversibility of their currencies.

It should be noted that the development of crisis phenomena in the global monetary and financial sphere was given impetus by the events that took place in the mortgage market of the United States, whose economy is the largest in the world. In particular, on the one hand, US financial corporations began to issue unprecedented mortgage loans, and on the other, the share of loans in the value of property (housing) increased. Loans were issued to a large number of low-income consumers, as well as individuals with a bad credit history. In other words, these consumers were unable or unwilling to repay loans, and when the deadline for repayment approached, they avoided it. As a result, the position of the financial institutions that issued loans has been shaken: they were unable to meet their obligations and went bankrupt [/NR/ exeres 14.10.2008 www.aljazeera.net].

Financial and banking institutions are characterized by the fact that they are largely interconnected, especially after the introduction of new, derivative instruments in the financial business in general and in the field of mortgage financing in particular. Thus, the practice of converting mortgage loans into shares or promissory notes backed by the corresponding loans has become widespread; as a result, there is a closer relationship between financial institutions. In addition, there is another feature characteristic of the financial sector: in the event of bankruptcy of a particular financial institution due to a sharp deterioration in its situation, panic engulfs depositors of other financial institutions. Their situation may be quite stable, but depositors withdraw their money from their accounts, which leads to bankruptcy of credit providers. To this must be added the weakness of control and supervision over the actions of financial institutions, as well as liberal monetary policy, which has led to an excessive increase in the money supply.

Evolution of the crisis. We can say that the global financial crisis broke out in mid-September 2008. It arose as a result of the rapid and steady increase in the number of cases of non-payment of funds on high-risk mortgage loans. This happened in the context of a fundamental realignment of the US housing market. But then, as a result of the close interdependence of the financial system, there was a liquidity crisis in the market of mutual operations between banks, and a lack of capital was revealed,

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emergency regulation of the situation of large intermediary financial institutions began to be introduced, and there was confusion in the credit markets. The risks associated with the use of a large number of financial instruments began to be actively re-evaluated. The most acute manifestation of the crisis was the unprecedented loss of cash.

Banks have sought to conserve their available cash in the face of the various pressures they have been subjected to and growing uncertainty about their financial viability by spreading losses between stocks linked to high-risk mortgages and other forms of borrowing. Cases of cash shortages became even more frequent when banks resorted to reducing credit lines and increasing additional guarantee payments on shares.

As the situation in the US mortgage market worsened, amid concerns caused by an increase in cases of non-payment and questionable transactions, the prices of shares related to mortgage lending continued to fall. Major American banks began to declare bankruptcy; the number of bankrupt banks reached 130 [/NR/ exeres 14.10.2008 www.aljazeera.net].

Reasons for the spread of the crisis. The main reason for the rapid spread of the crisis around the world is the close interconnection of global financial systems, which are largely dependent on each other. To clarify the situation, let's say that global financial institutions today invest in all major global markets. Consequently, the fall of one of these markets affects all investors.

At the same time, when the first signs of a crisis appear, the entire market rushes to hold cash and quality assets; as a result, demand for such assets increases, which does not correspond to supply. Thus, the crisis begins to feed itself [rale.gov.sy www.banquncent].

Theoretical approaches to the global financial crisis. The collapse in the American financial market is one of the largest in the history of the modern Western economy. The largest US banks went bust, the most famous of which is Lehman Brothers (declared bankruptcy on September 15, 2008). The consequences of this continue to affect to this day [67228101/Arabic/214.htm].

After the great bourgeois revolutions that ended feudalism, Western economic thought adopted the capitalist idea, i.e., the idea of a free economy based on liberalism as a philosophical basis and an idea that justifies any actions of the capitalist system. According to the liberal idea, it is necessary to provide the market with freedom, not to interfere in it in any form; the state should remain neutral in relation to the market: after all, according to Adam Smith and his followers, it has a hidden potential that allows it to organize itself without any interference from the state.

The deceptive nature of this theory is revealed in the fact that the market, as it turned out, cannot regulate itself. The best proof of the failure of the liberal idea is that the US Federal Reserve has agreed to pump $ 200 billion. the banks "Fannie Mae" and "Freddy Mac", which declared bankruptcy. This gigantic nationalization indicates a change of historical epochs (Ibrahim Warda, 2008).

THE IMPACT OF THE CRISIS ON ARAB COUNTRIES

The American financial crisis has affected most Arab states and has had a significant impact on their economies. Moreover, the degree of its impact was directly proportional to the volume of financial and economic relations of an Arab state with the outside world.

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It is clear that the Arab countries, especially the major oil exporters, while intensely integrating into the global financial system, could not help but become dependent on the global financial market and its inherent fluctuations, not to mention the changing market environment for liquid fuel prices. Thus, according to the Organization of Arab Petroleum Exporting Countries, the decline in world oil prices is only $ 1. The United States reduces Arab export revenues by $ 4 billion or more. up to 10 billion rubles. US dollars. If we take into account that world oil prices in 2008 - 2009 collapsed from $ 140 per barrel to $ 70-75. per barrel, it is clear that we may be talking about such losses that simply cannot be compensated for at the expense of other sources. In particular, at the Arab Economic Summit held in Kuwait in January 2009, it was stated that due to the fall in the value of stakes in foreign companies, Arab oil exporting countries lost at least $ 600 billion. In total, the Arab region has lost at least 40% of its foreign investment due to the global financial crisis.

It is characteristic that the Arab oil-exporting countries have now become so deeply integrated into the world economy that, in turn, they have begun to have a noticeable impact on it. In this regard, an interesting example is the small Emirate of Dubai, whose financial problems at the end of November 2009 led to alarmist sentiments on the global financial markets, "pulling" down the business activity indices on the leading exchanges of developed countries. The fact is that the investment group "Dubai World", which employs more than 50 thousand employees in almost 100 cities of different countries, including one of the largest port operators "Dubai Ports World", a large company "Nakheel", known for its real estate development projects, and a number of other companies, was not included in the list. they are able to pay off their debts, which reached 59 billion rubles. US dollars. However, the emirate government quickly came to the aid of the sinking Dubai World, which managed to attract 5 billion rubles in the shortest possible time. dol. from two local banks. This amount was the second tranche received by the company under the $ 20 billion loan program. US $ [Results. 30.11.2009].

Thus, the emerging financial crisis was successfully translated into a local case. Nevertheless, the state of near-panic experienced by Japanese and European stock market indices on stock exchanges during several November days indicates the extreme instability of the global economy, the "overheating" of the global real estate market, which is still burdened with speculative operations, and that currently no one is immune from financial risks. problems.

Therefore, it would be premature to speak confidently about the world economy emerging from the recession and financial crisis, despite some "recovery" in the economies of leading countries, which has been observed since mid-summer 2009.

As for the Arab countries, first of all major oil exporters, they will have to realize the unpleasant fact that their relatively long period of crisis-free development seems to have ended, and therefore, cyclical crises that affect the world economy from time to time will continue to affect the economy of individual Arab countries to varying degrees., and the entire region as a whole.

LESSONS FROM THE CRISIS

1. The crisis has clearly demonstrated that a free economy should not mean the absence of any role of the state: after all, this absence was one of the main causes of the crisis in the United States. Today, most economists recognize, regardless of ideological differences, that the state should play a certain role, in particular supervisory and controlling.

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2. The crisis has shown that in the absence of a positive role for Governments, free economies become a breeding ground for all kinds of abuse and lack of transparency.

3. The current system of globalization, created, as some believe, by rich States in their own interests, leads to the fact that when certain threats arise, poor and developing countries are most exposed to shocks, since they do not have the tools to mitigate such shocks available to rich countries.

4. Market instruments cannot be fully trusted to manage the economy; markets only correct themselves when there is little imbalance between supply and demand.

5. It is necessary to focus on individual economic indicators and analyze them, creating a kind of "early warning"system.

6. It is necessary to rely on national savings, since in the event of a crisis, foreign capital tends to flee abroad.

list of literature

Ibrahim Varda / / Le Monde diplomatique. 2008. October.

Results. 30.11.2009.

www.noorsoria.com/vb/showthered

Global Transition. L., 2004 - 2005.

/NR/ exeres 14.10.2008 www.aljazeera.net

rale.gov.sy www.banquncent

67228101/Arabic/214.htm

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