16 Notions
objective of maximizing the value of their portfolio through leverage. Banks, on
the other hand, cannot invest directly in non- risky assets and do not control the
allocation that investors will make between the two asset classes. In this model,
the equilibrium price of risky assets is higher than would be observed in an econ-
omy where funds are invested directly. Consequently, investment in risky assets
fuelled by credit may lead to a bubble.
Bubbles, which appear as an “anomaly” or a misalignment in relation to the
long- term equilibrium, can be compared to another important concept, “con-
tagion”, which evokes even more clearly a “pathological” situation aecting the
dynamics of the nancial system.
1.4.2 Contagion or nancial in ...