- February 2007: First signs of strain in the US market for "subprime" property loans, granted to people who in many cases have no real prospect of paying them back.
- August 2007: The European Central Bank steps in to bail out a little-known French investment fund which has run into trouble. It is to be the first of many such moves around the world, with greater sums involved each time.
- January 2008: The US Federal Reserve, or central bank, makes the first of several interest rate cuts.
- February: The British government nationalises Northern Rock, a major bank involved in risky property loans.
- March: Bear Stearns becomes the first big US investment bank to get into trouble due to subprime exposure. It is sold off in a deal engineered by the central bank.
- September: A dramatic series of new banking failures pushes the US government to take a role in the economy that would have been unthinkable since the Depression days of the 1930s.
On the 9th the government takes over Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae, giant institutions which underpin most of the country's property loans.
A week later Lehman Brothers, an investment bank, files for bankruptcy protection after the administration refuses to bail it out.
Markets also crash around the world, with Asia, Russia, Europe and Latin America drawn into the maelstrom.
The US government steps in to save American International Group, one of the world's biggest insurers, after its share price crashes. The event sends ripples around the world, since AIG underwrites huge pension assets.
In Britain, Lloyds TSB bank swallows up HBOS, a giant competitor threatened with bankruptcy.
The Federal Reserve announces that Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley, the last big independent investment houses on Wall Street, are to be subject to greater regulation.
The US administration draws up plans for a 700-billion operation to mop up "toxic" credits; the project briefly becomes a political football in the closing weeks of the country's election campaign.
- October:
After tough negotiations, the US Congress passes the bank rescue package.
In Europe, President Nicolas Sarkozy of France convenes a meeting of leaders from four major economies, and lays plans for a broader summit in November.
The International Monetary Fund begins to take an active role in the crisis, which has turned into an extreme credit freeze, and is having a ripple effect in the developing world.
- November:
Democratic candidate Barack Obama wins the US election, facing the grimmest economic situation of any new president since World War II.
The IMF predicts recession in most advanced countries for 2009.
The crisis increasingly impacts the non-financial sector, with threats of bankruptcy or massive job cuts affecting companies large and small around the world.
World leaders begin preparing for a summit of the "Group of 20" leading economies, to be held on November 15 in Washington.
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