To answer these questions, we need far more information than we currently possess about the nature and the sources of capital gains and the interaction of these gains with credit markets and consumer behavior. Analysts have long factored changing asset values into models that seek to explain consumption and investment.
2 The banking union and ongoing stability risks When we are talking about the future of the banking union, we should not do so without looking at its past. So let us briefly jump back to the early summer of 2012.