What part of finance could trigger a crisis?
Many observers have raised the possibility of a fresh global financial crisis. We seek to determine which part of finance could trigger a crisis: Probably not complex financial products (given the substantial decline in outstanding derivative s and ABS); Probably not bank lending in OECD countries, the size of which has declined significantly. When we look at corporate and household debt in OECD countries, we see that: P ublic debt ratios in OECD countries ha ve risen markedly; E quity markets in OECD countries are reasonably valued; In emerging countries, all debt ratios have risen sharply , while equity market valuation is quite low. Altogether, the riskiest components of global finance appear to be: OECD government bonds; All bond classes (public and private) in emerging countries.