The Sixth Kondratieff Cycle the Era of Financial Market Instruments: A Reflection on the Australia vs US Subprime Mortgage Market

Abstract

This paper posits that the present global financial crisis is the sixth Kondratieff cycle and that the underlying cause of transactions-based financial capitalism points to this cycle as being the era of financial market instruments. The US subprime mortgage market having contributed to the present financial liquidity shock as a consequence of the derivative market instruments known as collateralised debt obligations (CDO) is responsible for this cycle. The comparison between the subprime mortgage market in Australia and the US suggests that the Australian market should be less vulnerable but not entirely immune to the financial problems of the world liquidity shock.