An exegesis on currency and banking crises

This paper reviews the literature on currency and banking crises. Currency and banking crises are characterized according to some standards in the literature and their historical record summarized. The development of the literature from first through fourth-generation, or so-called 'institutional' models is reviewed. A digression on institutions is provided along with some sidebars on the development of the literature on institutions as it relates to economic growth. The empirical research on third-generation (or twin crises) models and on institutional models of currency and banking crises, which are so far scarce, is covered too. A summary of the main policy issues for dealing with financial crises is presented. The paper closes with an emphasis on institutions and a call for more research directed at institutions and their role in the financial system.