Causes of the Global Financial Crisis: Potential Impacts on the World and Turkish Economy

The global-scale crisis that quickly affected the entire world, originating in the United States, resulted in a dramatic increase in housing prices due to the widespread issuance of home (mortgage) loans to the public without much consideration for repayment capacity, fueled by the surge in demand. Subsequently, problems arose uncontrollably, especially for individuals with low incomes using variable interest rate mortgage loans, as the Federal Reserve (FED) also increased interest rates. The difficulties stemmed from the inability of these individuals to repay the loans, particularly those with variable interest rates, leading to what can be called "subprime mortgages." The securitization of these troubled loans and their grounding in derivative financial instruments, coupled with numerous banks transferring these contracts to each other, resulted in troubled stocks and derivative contracts experiencing significant global crisis due to excessive value losses. As the banking sector forms the cornerstone of financial markets and economies worldwide, the crisis that began in the banking sector rapidly and negatively impacted not only global banks but also developing and even developed country economies through a domino effect. This study aims to analyze the effects of the global crisis on the world countries and Turkey, along with the causes and consequences, based on the U.S. mortgage market.