5  Specifically, beyond the euro area we have considered all countries for which we could find at least seven years of data in the International Monetary Fund’s International Financial Statistics database. BIS Review 156/2008  5  A further benefit of the introduction of the Euro has been the strengthening of trade and financial linkages across euro area countries.
It is a recent economic problem that is characterized by contraction in liquidity in the global credit markets and banking system. An undervaluation of the real risk in the subprime market is cascading, rippling and ultimately severely affecting the world economy. The crisis began with the bursting of the United States’ housing bubble and high default rates on "subprime" and adjustable rate mortgages (ARM).