Global Financial Crisis. The major central banks of industrialized countries inject $247 billion into the money markets (European Central Bank: $110 billion, Swiss National Bank: $27 billion, Bank of Japan: $60 billion, Bank of England: $40 billion, Bank of Canada: $10 billion), in order to ease the profound crisis affecting financial institutions. Consequently, government bonds are sold, generating inflows into the stock market. Furthermore, AIG (American International Group), the world’s largest insurance company, is nationalized with a life-saving $85 billion injection. This is an extreme gesture, unprecedented in the century-long existence of the Federal Reserve.
