Short- and Long-run Impacts of Bursting Bubbles

Abstract

Uninsured investment risks are introduced into a textbook AK model. There are no financial frictions. Depending on insurance market development, asset bubbles emerge in an infinitely-lived agent economy. A collapse of bubbles has short-run impacts. At the moment of the collapse of bubbles, aggregate demand decreases immediately. This instantly triggers sharp declines in all of GDP, consumption, investment, capital utilization, and wealth-to-GDP, although capital remains constant in the short run. Consistently with data, investment decreases more than consumption. The bubbles also has long-run impacts. The decreased investment depresses long-run growth. The economy falls into a prolonged recession.