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146-667: Kosovo , officially the Republic of Kosovo , is a country in Southeast Europe with partial diplomatic recognition . It is bordered by Albania to the southwest, Montenegro to the west, Serbia to the north and east and North Macedonia to the southeast. It covers an area of 10,887 km (4,203 sq mi) and it has a population of approximately 1.6 million. Kosovo has a varied terrain, with high plains along with rolling hills and mountains , some of which reach an altitude of over 2,500 m (8,200 ft). Its climate
292-496: A " perfect storm " that triggered the Great Recession , which lasted from late 2007 to mid-2009. The financial crisis began in early 2007, as mortgage-backed securities (MBS) tied to U.S. real estate , as well as a vast web of derivatives linked to those MBS, collapsed in value . Financial institutions worldwide suffered severe damage, reaching a climax with the bankruptcy of Lehman Brothers on September 15, 2008, and
438-626: A broader struggle of Christian Serbs against Muslim Albanians. The ethnic Albanian nationalism movement was centred in Kosovo. In 1878 the League of Prizren ( Lidhja e Prizrenit ) was formed, a political organisation that sought to unify all the Albanians of the Ottoman Empire in a common struggle for autonomy and greater cultural rights, although they generally desired the continuation of
584-662: A country (such as the US) running a current account deficit also have a capital account (investment) surplus of the same amount. Hence large and growing amounts of foreign funds (capital) flowed into the U.S. to finance its imports. All of this created demand for various types of financial assets, raising the prices of those assets while lowering interest rates. Foreign investors had these funds to lend either because they had very high personal savings rates (as high as 40% in China) or because of high oil prices. Ben Bernanke referred to this as
730-450: A further collapse, encourage lending, restore faith in the integral commercial paper markets, avoid the risk of a deflationary spiral , and provide banks with enough funds to allow customers to make withdrawals. In effect, the central banks went from being the " lender of last resort " to the "lender of only resort" for a significant portion of the economy. In some cases the Fed was considered
876-541: A further increase in emigration of Kosovo Serbs and other ethnic groups. The Yugoslav leadership tried to suppress protests of Kosovo Serbs seeking protection from ethnic discrimination and violence. Inter-ethnic tensions continued to worsen in Kosovo throughout the 1980s. In 1989, Serbian President Slobodan Milošević , employing a mix of intimidation and political maneuvering, drastically reduced Kosovo's special autonomous status within Serbia and started cultural oppression of
1022-495: A global economic shock, resulting in several bank failures . Economies worldwide slowed during this period since credit tightened and international trade declined. Housing markets suffered and unemployment soared, resulting in evictions and foreclosures . Several businesses failed. From its peak in the second quarter of 2007 at $ 61.4 trillion, household wealth in the United States fell $ 11 trillion, to $ 50.4 trillion by
1168-483: A housing bubble to replace the Nasdaq bubble". Moreover, empirical studies using data from advanced countries show that excessive credit growth contributed greatly to the severity of the crisis. Additional downward pressure on interest rates was created by rising U.S. current account deficit, which peaked along with the housing bubble in 2006. Federal Reserve chairman Ben Bernanke explained how trade deficits required
1314-529: A member of the European Union . The name Kosovo is of South Slavic origin. Kosovo (Serbian Cyrillic: Косово ) is the Serbian neuter possessive adjective of kos ( кос ), ' blackbird ', an ellipsis for Kosovo Polje , 'Blackbird Field', the name of a karst field situated in the eastern half of today's Kosovo and the site of the 1389 Battle of Kosovo Field . The name of the karst field
1460-549: A membership in the collective presidency and the Yugoslav parliament, in which it held veto power. In the aftermath of the 1974 constitution, concerns over the rise of Albanian nationalism in Kosovo rose with the widespread celebrations in 1978 of the 100th anniversary of the founding of the League of Prizren . Albanians felt that their status as a "minority" in Yugoslavia had made them second-class citizens in comparison with
1606-527: A more deliberate approach to converting the Roman Catholic population who were mostly Albanians in comparison with the mostly Serbian adherents of Eastern Orthodoxy, as they viewed the former less favorably due to its allegiance to Rome, a competing regional power. In the 19th century, there was an awakening of ethnic nationalism throughout the Balkans. The underlying ethnic tensions became part of
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#17327655772221752-567: A part of the Moesia province. During the reign of Diocletian , Dardania became a full Roman province and the entirety of Kosovo's modern territory became a part of the Diocese of Moesia , and then during the second half of the 4th century, it became part of the Praetorian prefecture of Illyricum . During Roman rule, a series of settlements developed in the area, mainly close to mines and to
1898-821: A range of measures intended to preserve existing jobs and create new ones. Combined, the initiatives, coupled with actions taken in other countries, ended the worst of the Great Recession by mid-2009. Assessments of the crisis's impact in the U.S. vary, but suggest that some 8.7 million jobs were lost, causing unemployment to rise from 5 percent in 2007 to a high of 10 percent in October 2009. The percentage of citizens living in poverty rose from 12.5 percent in 2007 to 15.1 percent in 2010. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell by 53 percent between October 2007 and March 2009, and some estimates suggest that one in four households lost 75 percent or more of their net worth . In 2010,
2044-545: A really bad economy. In other words, the borrowers did not cause the loans to go bad-it was the economy. Between 1998 and 2006, the price of the typical American house increased by 124%. During the 1980s and 1990s, the national median home price ranged from 2.9 to 3.1 times median household income. By contrast, this ratio increased to 4.0 in 2004, and 4.6 in 2006. This housing bubble resulted in many homeowners refinancing their homes at lower interest rates, or financing consumer spending by taking out second mortgages secured by
2190-561: A republic, or declaring support for Albania. After the ouster of Ranković in 1966, the agenda of pro-decentralisation reformers in Yugoslavia succeeded in the late 1960s in attaining substantial decentralisation of powers, creating substantial autonomy in Kosovo and Vojvodina, and recognising a Muslim Yugoslav nationality. As a result of these reforms, there was a massive overhaul of Kosovo's nomenklatura and police, that shifted from being Serb-dominated to ethnic Albanian-dominated through firing Serbs in large scale. Further concessions were made to
2336-404: A significant increase in subprime lending . Subprime had not become less risky; Wall Street just accepted this higher risk. Due to competition between mortgage lenders for revenue and market share, and when the supply of creditworthy borrowers was limited, mortgage lenders relaxed underwriting standards and originated riskier mortgages to less creditworthy borrowers. In the view of some analysts,
2482-489: A single pool from which specific securities draw in a specific sequence of priority. Those securities first in line received investment-grade ratings from rating agencies. Securities with lower priority had lower credit ratings but theoretically a higher rate of return on the amount invested. By September 2008, average U.S. housing prices had declined by over 20% from their mid-2006 peak. As prices declined, borrowers with adjustable-rate mortgages could not refinance to avoid
2628-409: A sovereign state and continues to claim it as its constituent Autonomous Province of Kosovo and Metohija , it accepts the governing authority of the Kosovo institutions as a part of the 2013 Brussels Agreement . Kosovo is a developing country, with an upper-middle-income economy . It has experienced solid economic growth over the last decade as measured by international financial institutions since
2774-551: A subsequent international banking crisis . The prerequisites for the crisis were complex. During the 1990s, the U.S. Congress had passed legislation intended to expand affordable housing through looser financing. In 1999, parts of the Glass–Steagall legislation (passed in 1933) were repealed , permitting institutions to mix low-risk operations, such as commercial banking and insurance , with higher-risk operations such as investment banking and proprietary trading . As
2920-542: Is Machedonius, who was a member of the council of Serdika . Other known bishops were Paulus ( synod of Constantinople in 553 AD), and Gregentius, who was sent by Justin I to Ethiopia and Yemen to ease problems among different Christian groups there. In the next centuries, Kosovo was a frontier province of the Roman , and later of the Byzantine Empire , and as a result it changed hands frequently. The region
3066-622: Is a geographical sub-region of Europe , consisting primarily of the region of the Balkans , as well as adjacent regions and archipelagos . There are overlapping and conflicting definitions of the region, due to political, economic, historical, cultural, and geographical considerations. Sovereign states and territories that may be included in the region are Albania , Bosnia and Herzegovina , Bulgaria , Croatia (alternatively placed in Central Europe ), Greece (alternatively placed in
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#17327655772223212-806: Is classified outside of main Europe. In the CIA World Factbook , the description of each country includes information about "Location" under the heading "Geography", where the country is classified into a region. The following countries are included in their classification "Southeast Europe": In this classification, Moldova is included in Eastern Europe and Greece is included in Southern Europe . Hungary and Slovenia are included in Central Europe . Financial crisis of 2007%E2%80%932008 The 2007–2008 financial crisis , or
3358-498: Is heavily featured in the institution of the presidency of the country. The official conventional long name, as defined by the constitution , is Republic of Kosovo . Additionally, as a result of an arrangement agreed between Pristina and Belgrade in talks mediated by the European Union, Kosovo has participated in some international forums and organisations under the title "Kosovo*" with a footnote stating, "This designation
3504-592: Is highlighted by the hundreds of archaeological sites identified throughout its territory. Since 2000, the increase in archaeological expeditions has revealed many, previously unknown sites. The earliest documented traces in Kosovo are associated to the Stone Age ; namely, indications that cave dwellings might have existed, such as Radivojce Cave near the source of the Drin River , Grnčar Cave in Viti municipality and
3650-706: Is likely to remain weak for a time, the Committee continues to anticipate that policy actions to stabilize financial markets and institutions, fiscal and monetary stimulus, and market forces will contribute to a gradual resumption of sustainable economic growth in a context of price stability. In the table, the names of emerging and developing economies are shown in boldface type, while the names of developed economies are in Roman (regular) type. The twenty largest economies contributing to global GDP (PPP) growth (2007–2017) The expansion of central bank lending in response to
3796-534: Is mainly continental with some Mediterranean and alpine influences. Kosovo's capital and the most populous city is Pristina ; other major cities and urban areas include Prizren , Ferizaj , Gjilan and Peja . The Dardani tribe emerged in Kosovo and established the Kingdom of Dardania in the 4th century BC. It was later annexed by the Roman Empire in the 1st century BC. The territory remained in
3942-597: Is one intriguing line of argument to suggest that the Slav presence in Kosovo and southernmost part of the Morava valley may have been quite weak in the first one or two centuries of Slav settlement. Only in the ninth century can the expansion of a strong Slav (or quasi-Slav) power into this region be observed. Under a series of ambitious rulers, the Bulgarians pushed westwards across modern Macedonia and eastern Serbia, until by
4088-459: Is without prejudice to positions on status, and is in line with UNSC 1244 and the ICJ Opinion on the Kosovo declaration of independence". This arrangement, which has been dubbed the "asterisk agreement", was agreed in an 11-point arrangement on 24 February 2012. The strategic position including the abundant natural resources were favorable for the development of human settlements in Kosovo, as
4234-483: The 1990s onwards, in part due to the negative historical and political connotations of the term Balkans , especially since the military conflicts of the 1990s in Yugoslavia in the western half of the region, the term Southeast Europe is becoming increasingly popular. The German Ständige Ausschuss für geographische Namen (Standing Committee on Geographical Names), which develops and recommends rules for
4380-532: The Banate of Zeta , the Banate of Morava and the Banate of Vardar . In order to change the ethnic composition of Kosovo , between 1912 and 1941 a large-scale Serbian colonisation of Kosovo was undertaken by the Belgrade government. Kosovar Albanians' right to receive education in their own language was denied alongside other non-Slavic or unrecognised Slavic nations of Yugoslavia, as the kingdom only recognised
4526-607: The Battle of Kosovo of 1389 is considered to be one of the defining moments, where a Serbian-led coalition consisting of various ethnicities fought against the Ottoman Empire. Various dynasties, mainly the Branković , would govern Kosovo for a significant portion of the period following the battle. The Ottoman Empire fully conquered Kosovo after the Second Battle of Kosovo , ruling for nearly five centuries until 1912. Kosovo
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4672-741: The Byzantine Empire , facing Slavic migrations from the 6th-7th century AD. Control shifted between the Byzantines and the First Bulgarian Empire . In the 13th century, Kosovo became integral to the Serbian medieval state and the seat of the Serbian Orthodox Church was moved to Kosovo. Ottoman expansion in the Balkans in the late 14th and 15th century led to the decline and fall of the Serbian Empire ;
4818-582: The Dodd–Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act was passed, overhauling financial regulations. It was opposed by many Republicans , and it was weakened by the Economic Growth, Regulatory Relief, and Consumer Protection Act in 2018. The Basel III capital and liquidity standards were also adopted by countries around the world. The recession was a significant factor in the 2010s European debt crisis . The crisis sparked
4964-654: The Federal Reserve ("Fed") lowered the federal funds rate from 2000 to 2003, institutions increasingly targeted low-income homebuyers, largely belonging to racial minorities , with high-risk loans; this development went unattended by regulators. As interest rates rose from 2004 to 2006, the cost of mortgages rose and the demand for housing fell, causing property values to decline. In early 2007, as more U.S. mortgage holders began defaulting on their repayments, subprime lenders went bankrupt, culminating in April with
5110-474: The Federal Reserve lowered the federal funds rate target from 6.5% to 1.0%. This was done to soften the effects of the collapse of the dot-com bubble and the September 11 attacks , as well as to combat a perceived risk of deflation . As early as 2002, it was apparent that credit was fueling housing instead of business investment as some economists went so far as to advocate that the Fed "needs to create
5256-551: The First Balkan War , the 1913 Treaty of London was signed with Metohija ceded to the Kingdom of Montenegro and eastern Kosovo ceded to the Kingdom of Serbia . During the Balkan Wars , over 100,000 Albanians left Kosovo and about 50,000 were killed in the massacres that accompanied the war. Soon, there were concerted Serbian colonisation efforts in Kosovo during various periods between Serbia's 1912 takeover of
5402-672: The Great Depression . This matters for credit decisions. A homeowner with equity in her home is very unlikely to default on a car loan or credit card debt. They will draw on this equity rather than lose their car and/or have a default placed on their credit record. On the other hand, a homeowner who has no equity is a serious default risk. In the case of businesses, their creditworthiness depends on their future profits. Profit prospects look much worse in November 2008 than they did in November 2007 ... While many banks are obviously at
5548-689: The Great Recession , which, at the time, was the most severe global recession since the Great Depression. It was also followed by the European debt crisis, which began with a deficit in Greece in late 2009, and the 2008–2011 Icelandic financial crisis , which involved the bank failure of all three of the major banks in Iceland and, relative to the size of its economy, was the largest economic collapse suffered by any country in history. It
5694-571: The Great Turkish War , a number of Serbs that lived in Kosovo, Macedonia and south Serbia migrated northwards near the Danube and Sava rivers, and is one of the events known as the great migrations of the Serbs which also included some Christian Albanians. The Albanians and Serbs who stayed in Kosovo after the war faced waves of Ottoman and Tatar forces, who unleashed a savage retaliation on
5840-660: The Kosovo War of 1998 and 1999, which resulted in the withdrawal of the Yugoslav army and the establishment of the United Nations Interim Administration Mission in Kosovo . Kosovo unilaterally declared its independence from Serbia on 17 February 2008, and has since gained diplomatic recognition as a sovereign state by 104 member states of the United Nations . Although Serbia does not officially recognise Kosovo as
5986-544: The Nemanjić dynasty , a prominent dynasty of mediaeval Serbia . In 1389, as the Ottoman Empire expanded northwards through the Balkans, Ottoman forces under Sultan Murad I met with a Christian coalition led by Moravian Serbia under Prince Lazar in the Battle of Kosovo . Both sides suffered heavy losses and the battle was a stalemate and it was even reported as a Christian victory at first, but Serbian manpower
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6132-717: The Principality of Serbia . During and after the Serbian–Ottoman War of 1876–78 , between 30,000 and 70,000 Muslims, mostly Albanians, were expelled by the Serb army from the Sanjak of Niš and fled to the Kosovo Vilayet . According to Austrian data, by the 1890s Kosovo was 70% Muslim (nearly entirely of Albanian descent) and less than 30% non-Muslim (primarily Serbs). In May 1901, Albanians pillaged and partially burned
6278-524: The Račak massacre , which attracted further international attention to the conflict. Within weeks, a multilateral international conference was convened and by March had prepared a draft agreement known as the Rambouillet Accords , calling for the restoration of Kosovo's autonomy and the deployment of NATO peacekeeping forces. The Yugoslav delegation found the terms unacceptable and refused to sign
6424-537: The Stalinist regime of Enver Hoxha of Albania. In 1956, a show trial in Pristina was held in which multiple Albanian Communists of Kosovo were convicted of being infiltrators from Albania and given long prison sentences. High-ranking Serbian communist official Aleksandar Ranković sought to secure the position of the Serbs in Kosovo and gave them dominance in Kosovo's nomenklatura . Islam in Kosovo at this time
6570-561: The United States House Committee on Financial Services held a hearing, at the urging of the administration, to assess safety and soundness issues and to review a recent report by the Office of Federal Housing Enterprise Oversight (OFHEO) that had uncovered accounting discrepancies within the two entities. The hearings never resulted in new legislation or formal investigation of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, as many of
6716-414: The global financial crisis ( GFC ), was the most severe worldwide economic crisis since the 1929 Wall Street crash that began the Great Depression . Causes of the crisis included predatory lending in the form of subprime mortgages to low-income homebuyers and a resulting housing bubble , excessive risk-taking by global financial institutions , and lack of regulatory oversight, which culminated in
6862-501: The mortgage-backed security and the collateralized debt obligation that were assigned safe ratings by the credit rating agencies . In effect, Wall Street connected this pool of money to the mortgage market in the US, with enormous fees accruing to those throughout the mortgage supply chain , from the mortgage broker selling the loans to small banks that funded the brokers and the large investment banks behind them. By approximately 2003,
7008-403: The "buyer of last resort". During the fourth quarter of 2008, these central banks purchased US$ 2.5 (~$ 3.47 trillion in 2023) trillion of government debt and troubled private assets from banks. This was the largest liquidity injection into the credit market, and the largest monetary policy action in world history. Following a model initiated by the 2008 United Kingdom bank rescue package ,
7154-411: The "nations" of Yugoslavia and demanded that Kosovo be a constituent republic , alongside the other republics of Yugoslavia. Protests by Albanians in 1981 over the status of Kosovo resulted in Yugoslav territorial defence units being brought into Kosovo and a state of emergency being declared resulting in violence and the protests being crushed. In the aftermath of the 1981 protests, purges took place in
7300-468: The 15th-16th century as part of the Sanjak of Dukakin with its capital Peja , and is named after the medieval Albanian Dukagjini family . Some Albanians also prefer to refer to Kosovo as Dardania , the name of an ancient kingdom and later Roman province , which covered the territory of modern-day Kosovo. The name is derived from the ancient tribe of the Dardani , which is considered be related to
7446-764: The 2008 financial crisis, consumer regulators in America have more closely supervised sellers of credit cards and home mortgages in order to deter anticompetitive practices that led to the crisis. At least two major reports on the causes of the crisis were produced by the U.S. Congress: the Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission report, released January 2011, and a report by the United States Senate Homeland Security Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations entitled Wall Street and
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#17327655772227592-653: The 850's they had taken over Kosovo and were pressing on the border of Serbian Principality . The First Bulgarian Empire acquired Kosovo by the mid-9th century, but Byzantine control was restored by the late 10th century. In 1072, the leaders of the Bulgarian Uprising of Georgi Voiteh traveled from their center in Skopje to Prizren and held a meeting in which they invited Mihailo Vojislavljević of Duklja to send them assistance. Mihailo sent his son, Constantine Bodin with 300 of his soldiers. After they met,
7738-644: The Bulgarian magnates proclaimed him "Emperor of the Bulgarians". Demetrios Chomatenos is the last Byzantine archbishop of Ohrid to include Prizren in his jurisdiction until 1219. Stefan Nemanja had seized the area along the White Drin in 1185 to 1195 and the ecclesiastical split of Prizren from the Patriarchate in 1219 was the final act of establishing Nemanjić rule. Konstantin Jireček concluded, from
7884-529: The CRA. They contend that there were two, connected causes to the crisis: the relaxation of underwriting standards in 1995 and the ultra-low interest rates initiated by the Federal Reserve after the terrorist attack on September 11, 2001. Both causes had to be in place before the crisis could take place. Critics also point out that publicly announced CRA loan commitments were massive, totaling $ 4.5 trillion in
8030-496: The Communist Party, and rights that had been recently granted to Albanians were rescinded – including ending the provision of Albanian professors and Albanian language textbooks in the education system. While Albanians in the region had the highest birth rates in Europe, other areas of Yugoslavia including Serbia had low birth rates. Increased urbanisation and economic development led to higher settlements of Albanian workers into Serb-majority areas, as Serbs departed in response to
8176-404: The Dema and Karamakaz Caves in the municipality of Peja . The earliest archaeological evidence of organised settlement, which have been found in Kosovo, belong to the Neolithic Starčevo and Vinča cultures. Vlashnjë and Runik are important sites of the Neolithic era with the rock art paintings at Mrrizi i Kobajës near Vlashnjë being the first find of prehistoric art in Kosovo. Amongst
8322-630: The Emperor rebuilt the city after it had been destroyed by an earthquake and renamed it to Iustinianna Secunda . Other important towns that developed in the area during Roman rule were Vendenis , located in modern-day Podujevë ; Viciano , possibly near Vushtrri ; and Municipium Dardanorum , an important mining town in Leposavić . Other archeological sites include Çifllak in Western Kosovo, Dresnik in Klina , Pestova in Vushtrri, Vërban in Klokot , Poslishte between Vërmica and Prizren , Paldenica near Hani i Elezit , as well as Nerodimë e Poshtme and Nikadin near Ferizaj . The one thing all
8468-412: The Financial Crisis: Anatomy of a Financial Collapse , released April 2011. In total, 47 bankers served jail time as a result of the crisis, over half of which were from Iceland , where the crisis was the most severe and led to the collapse of all three major Icelandic banks. In April 2012, Geir Haarde of Iceland became the only politician to be convicted as a result of the crisis. Only one banker in
8614-628: The Kingdom of Yugoslavia and Turkey were signed on the expatriation of 240,000 Albanians to Turkey, but the expatriation did not occur due to the outbreak of World War II . After the Axis invasion of Yugoslavia in 1941, most of Kosovo was assigned to Italian-controlled Albania, and the rest was controlled by Germany and Bulgaria. A three-dimensional conflict ensued, involving inter-ethnic, ideological, and international affiliations. Albanian collaborators persecuted Serb and Montenegrin settlers. Estimates differ, but most authors estimate that between 3,000 and 10,000 Serbs and Montenegrins died in Kosovo during
8760-437: The LMI borrowers targeted by the CRA, especially in the years 2005–2006 leading up to the crisis, nor did it find any evidence that lending under the CRA rules increased delinquency rates or that the CRA indirectly influenced independent mortgage lenders to ramp up sub-prime lending. To other analysts the delay between CRA rule changes in 1995 and the explosion of subprime lending is not surprising, and does not exonerate
8906-418: The Ottoman Empire. The League was dis-established in 1881 but enabled the awakening of a national identity among Albanians, whose ambitions competed with those of the Serbs, the Kingdom of Serbia wishing to incorporate this land that had formerly been within its empire. The modern Albanian-Serbian conflict has its roots in the expulsion of the Albanians in 1877–1878 from areas that became incorporated into
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#17327655772229052-434: The Ottomans as sovereigns. The resulting alliance facilitated the mass conversion of Albanians to Islam. Given that the Ottoman Empire's subjects were divided along religious (rather than ethnic) lines, the spread of Islam greatly elevated the status of Albanian chiefs. Centuries earlier, Albanians of Kosovo were predominantly Christian and Albanians and Serbs for the most part co-existed peacefully. The Ottomans appeared to have
9198-435: The Proto-Albanian term dardā , which means "pear" (Modern Albanian: dardhë ). The former Kosovo President Ibrahim Rugova had been an enthusiastic backer of a "Dardanian" identity, and the Kosovar presidential flag and seal refer to this national identity. However, the name "Kosova" remains more widely used among the Albanian population. The flag of Dardania remains in use as the official Presidential seal and standard and
9344-450: The SEC's December 2011 securities fraud case against six former executives of Fannie and Freddie, Peter Wallison and Edward Pinto estimated that, in 2008, Fannie and Freddie held 13 million substandard loans totaling over $ 2 trillion. In the early and mid-2000s, the Bush administration called numerous times for investigations into the safety and soundness of the GSEs and their swelling portfolio of subprime mortgages. On September 10, 2003,
9490-546: The Second World War . Another 30,000 to 40,000, or as high as 100,000, Serbs and Montenegrins, mainly settlers, were deported to Serbia in order to Albanianise Kosovo. A decree from Yugoslav leader Josip Broz Tito , followed by a new law in August 1945 disallowed the return of colonists who had taken land from Albanian peasants. During the war years, some Serbs and Montenegrins were sent to concentration camps in Pristina and Mitrovica. Nonetheless, these conflicts were relatively low-level compared with other areas of Yugoslavia during
9636-506: The Serbian press and that led to further ethnic problems and eventual removal of Kosovo's status. Beginning in March 1981, Kosovar Albanian students of the University of Pristina organised protests seeking that Kosovo become a republic within Yugoslavia and demanding their human rights. The protests were brutally suppressed by the police and army, with many protesters arrested. During the 1980s, ethnic tensions continued with frequent violent outbreaks against Yugoslav state authorities, resulting in
9782-403: The Slavic Croat, Serb, and Slovene nations as constituent nations of Yugoslavia. Other Slavs had to identify as one of the three official Slavic nations and non-Slav nations deemed as minorities. Albanians and other Muslims were forced to emigrate, mainly with the land reform which struck Albanian landowners in 1919, but also with direct violent measures. In 1935 and 1938, two agreements between
9928-498: The U.S. to borrow money from abroad, in the process bidding up bond prices and lowering interest rates. Bernanke explained that between 1996 and 2004, the U.S. current account deficit increased by $ 650 billion, from 1.5% to 5.8% of GDP. Financing these deficits required the country to borrow large sums from abroad, much of it from countries running trade surpluses. These were mainly the emerging economies in Asia and oil-exporting nations. The balance of payments identity requires that
10074-409: The United States did not have wealth declines at all during the crisis because they generally did not own financial investments whose value can fluctuate. The Federal Reserve surveyed 4,000 households between 2007 and 2009, and found that the total wealth of 63% of all Americans declined in that period and 77% of the richest families had a decrease in total wealth, while only 50% of those on the bottom of
10220-423: The United States served jail time as a result of the crisis, Kareem Serageldin , a banker at Credit Suisse who was sentenced to 30 months in jail and returned $ 24.6 million in compensation for manipulating bond prices to hide $ 1 billion of losses. No individuals in the United Kingdom were convicted as a result of the crisis. Goldman Sachs paid $ 550 million to settle fraud charges after allegedly anticipating
10366-446: The Vilayet of Kosovo, a political unit created by the Ottoman Empire in 1877. However, those borders were different. Tensions between ethnic Albanians and the Yugoslav government were significant, not only due to ethnic tensions but also due to political ideological concerns, especially regarding relations with neighbouring Albania. Harsh repressive measures were imposed on Kosovo Albanians due to suspicions that there were sympathisers of
10512-559: The bailout to Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac exceeds $ 300 billion (c. $ 401 billion in 2023 ) (calculated by adding the fair value deficits of the entities to the direct bailout funds at the time). Economist Paul Krugman argued in January 2010 that the simultaneous growth of the residential and commercial real estate pricing bubbles and the global nature of the crisis undermines the case made by those who argue that Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, CRA, or predatory lending were primary causes of
10658-535: The bailouts, such as in the case of the AIG bonus payments controversy , leading to the development of a variety of "decision making frameworks", to help balance competing policy interests during times of financial crisis. Alistair Darling , the U.K.'s Chancellor of the Exchequer at the time of the crisis, stated in 2018 that Britain came within hours of "a breakdown of law and order" the day that Royal Bank of Scotland
10804-557: The bankruptcy of New Century Financial . As demand and prices continued to fall, the contagion spread to worldwide credit markets by August, and central banks began injecting liquidity . By July 2008, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac , companies which together owned or guaranteed half of the U.S. housing market, were on the verge of collapse; the Housing and Economic Recovery Act enabled the government to take over and cover their combined $ 1.6 trillion debt on September 7. In response to
10950-726: The brink, consumers and businesses would be facing a much harder time getting credit right now even if the financial system were rock solid. The problem with the economy is the loss of close to $ 6 trillion in housing wealth and an even larger amount of stock wealth. ... the pace of economic contraction is slowing. Conditions in financial markets have generally improved in recent months. Household spending has shown further signs of stabilizing but remains constrained by ongoing job losses, lower housing wealth, and tight credit. Businesses are cutting back on fixed investment and staffing but appear to be making progress in bringing inventory stocks into better alignment with sales. Although economic activity
11096-901: The broader region of Southern Europe ), Kosovo , Montenegro , North Macedonia , Romania (alternatively placed in Eastern Europe ), Serbia , and the European part of Turkey (alternatively placed in the broader region of Southern Europe, also in Western Asia with the rest of the country). Sometimes, Cyprus (most often placed in West Asia ), Hungary (most often placed in Central Europe), Moldova (most often placed in Eastern Europe) and Slovenia (most often placed in Central Europe) are also included due to cultural or historical factors and affiliation. The largest cities of
11242-696: The bubble burst, Australian economist John Quiggin wrote, "And, unlike the Great Depression, this crisis was entirely the product of financial markets. There was nothing like the postwar turmoil of the 1920s, the struggles over gold convertibility and reparations, or the Smoot-Hawley tariff , all of which have shared the blame for the Great Depression." Instead, Quiggin lays the blame for the 2008 near-meltdown on financial markets, on political decisions to lightly regulate them, and on rating agencies which had self-interested incentives to give good ratings. Lower interest rates encouraged borrowing. From 2000 to 2003,
11388-562: The cities of Novi Pazar , Sjenica and Pristina, and killed many Serbs near Pristina and in Kolašin (now North Kosovo). In the spring of 1912, Albanians under the lead of Hasan Prishtina revolted against the Ottoman Empire. The rebels were joined by a wave of Albanians in the Ottoman army ranks, who deserted the army, refusing to fight their own kin. The rebels defeated the Ottomans and
11534-501: The committee members refused to accept the report and instead rebuked OFHEO for their attempt at regulation. Some, such as Wallison, believe this was an early warning to the systemic risk that the growing market in subprime mortgages posed to the U.S. financial system that went unheeded. A 2000 United States Department of the Treasury study of lending trends for 305 cities from 1993 to 1998 showed that $ 467 billion of mortgage lending
11680-588: The correspondence of archbishop Demetrios of Ohrid from 1216 to 1236, that Dardania was increasingly populated by Albanians and the expansion started from Gjakova and Prizren area, prior to the Slavic expansion. During the 13th and 14th centuries, Kosovo was a political, cultural and religious centre of the Serbian Kingdom . In the late 13th century, the seat of the Serbian Archbishopric
11826-445: The country; the term Kosovo ( Косово ) is used for the eastern part of Kosovo centred on the historical Kosovo Field , while the western part of the territory of Kosovo is called Metohija (Albanian: Dukagjin ). Thus, in Serbian the entire area of Kosovo is referred to as Kosovo and Metohija . Dukagjini or Dukagjini plateau (Albanian: 'Rrafshi i Dukagjinit') is an alternative name for Western Kosovo, having been in use since
11972-403: The crisis and selling toxic investments to its clients. With fewer resources to risk in creative destruction, the number of patent applications was flat, compared to exponential increases in patent application in prior years. Typical American families did not fare well, nor did the "wealthy-but-not-wealthiest" families just beneath the pyramid's top. However, half of the poorest families in
12118-446: The crisis in commercial real estate and related lending took place after the crisis in residential real estate. Business journalist Kimberly Amadeo reported: "The first signs of decline in residential real estate occurred in 2006. Three years later, commercial real estate started feeling the effects." Denice A. Gierach, a real estate attorney and CPA, wrote: ... most of the commercial real estate loans were good loans destroyed by
12264-437: The crisis was not only confined to the Federal Reserve 's provision of aid to individual financial institutions. The Federal Reserve has also conducted a number of innovative lending programs with the goal of improving liquidity and strengthening different financial institutions and markets, such as Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae . In this case, the major problem among the market is the lack of free cash reserves and flows to secure
12410-526: The crisis. As part of national fiscal policy response to the Great Recession , governments and central banks, including the Federal Reserve , the European Central Bank and the Bank of England , provided then-unprecedented trillions of dollars in bailouts and stimulus , including expansive fiscal policy and monetary policy to offset the decline in consumption and lending capacity, avoid
12556-509: The crisis. In other words, bubbles in both markets developed even though only the residential market was affected by these potential causes. Countering Krugman, Wallison wrote: "It is not true that every bubble—even a large bubble—has the potential to cause a financial crisis when it deflates." Wallison notes that other developed countries had "large bubbles during the 1997–2007 period" but "the losses associated with mortgage delinquencies and defaults when these bubbles deflated were far lower than
12702-665: The draft. Between 24 March and 10 June 1999, NATO intervened by bombing Yugoslavia, aiming to force Milošević to withdraw his forces from Kosovo, though NATO could not appeal to any particular motion of the Security Council of the United Nations to help legitimise its intervention. Combined with continued skirmishes between Albanian guerrillas and Yugoslav forces the conflict resulted in a further massive displacement of population in Kosovo. Southeast Europe Southeast Europe or Southeastern Europe ( SEE )
12848-591: The eastern parts. Thus, their identification as either an Illyrian or Thracian tribe has been a subject of debate, the ethnolinguistic relationship between the two groups being largely uncertain and debated itself as well. The correspondence of Illyrian names, including those of the ruling elite, in Dardania with those of the southern Illyrians suggests a thracianization of parts of Dardania. The Dardani retained an individuality and continued to maintain social independence after Roman conquest, playing an important role in
12994-525: The economic climate for more favorable real estate conditions in Serbia. While there was tension, charges of "genocide" and planned harassment have been discredited as a pretext to revoke Kosovo's autonomy. For example, in 1986 the Serbian Orthodox Church published an official claim that Kosovo Serbs were being subjected to an Albanian program of 'genocide'. Even though they were disproved by police statistics, they received wide attention in
13140-414: The end of the first quarter of 2009, resulting in a decline in consumption, then a decline in business investment. In the fourth quarter of 2008, the quarter-over-quarter decline in real GDP in the U.S. was 8.4%. The U.S. unemployment rate peaked at 11.0% in October 2009, the highest rate since 1983 and roughly twice the pre-crisis rate. The average hours per work week declined to 33, the lowest level since
13286-608: The end product." Essentially, investment banks and hedge funds used financial innovation to enable large wagers to be made, far beyond the actual value of the underlying mortgage loans, using derivatives called credit default swaps, collateralized debt obligations and synthetic CDOs . By March 2011, the FDIC had paid out $ 9 billion (c. $ 12 billion in 2023 ) to cover losses on bad loans at 165 failed financial institutions. The Congressional Budget Office estimated, in June 2011, that
13432-602: The ethnic Albanian population. Kosovar Albanians responded with a non-violent separatist movement, employing widespread civil disobedience and creation of parallel structures in education, medical care, and taxation, with the ultimate goal of achieving the independence of Kosovo . In July 1990, the Kosovo Albanians proclaimed the existence of the Republic of Kosova , and declared it a sovereign and independent state in September 1992. In May 1992, Ibrahim Rugova
13578-482: The ethnic Albanians of Kosovo in response to unrest, including the creation of the University of Pristina as an Albanian language institution. These changes created widespread fear among Serbs that they were being made second-class citizens in Yugoslavia. By the 1974 Constitution of Yugoslavia, Kosovo was granted major autonomy, allowing it to have its own administration, assembly, and judiciary; as well as having
13724-473: The federal funds rate to drop below where it was supposed to be. However, in October 2008, the Federal Reserve was granted the power to provide banks with interest payments on their surplus reserves. This created a motivation for banks to retain their reserves instead of disbursing them, so reducing the need for the Federal Reserve to hedge its increased lending by decreases in alternative assets. Money market funds also went through runs when people lost faith in
13870-426: The financial system and got banks to start lending again, both to each other and to people. Many homeowners who were trying to keep their homes from going into default got housing credits. A package of policies was passed that let borrowers refinance their loans even though the value of their homes was less than what they still owed on their mortgages . While the causes of the bubble and subsequent crash are disputed,
14016-751: The finds of excavations in Neolithic Runik is a baked-clay ocarina , which is the first musical instrument recorded in Kosovo. The first archaeological expedition in Kosovo was organised by the Austro-Hungarian army during the World War I in the Illyrian tumuli burial grounds of Nepërbishti within the district of Prizren . The beginning of the Bronze Age coincides with the presence of tumuli burial grounds in western Kosovo, like
14162-600: The formation of new groupings in the Roman era. During Roman rule, Kosovo was part of two provinces, with its western part being part of Praevalitana , and the vast majority of its modern territory belonging to Dardania . Praevalitana and the rest of Illyria was conquered by the Roman Republic in 168 BC. On the other hand, Dardania maintained its independence until the year 28 BC, when the Romans, under Augustus , annexed it into their Republic. Dardania eventually became
14308-457: The government began collecting the data in 1964. The economic crisis started in the U.S. but spread to the rest of the world. U.S. consumption accounted for more than a third of the growth in global consumption between 2000 and 2007 and the rest of the world depended on the U.S. consumer as a source of demand. Toxic securities were owned by corporate and institutional investors globally. Derivatives such as credit default swaps also increased
14454-609: The government seized Washington Mutual (the largest savings and loan firm ). On October 3, Congress passed the $ 800 billion Emergency Economic Stabilization Act , which authorized the Treasury Department to purchase troubled assets and bank stocks. The Fed began a program of quantitative easing by buying treasury bonds and other assets, such as MBS, and the February 2009 American Recovery and Reinvestment Act , signed by newly elected President Barack Obama , included
14600-506: The governments of European nations and the United States guaranteed the debt issued by their banks and raised the capital of their national banking systems, ultimately purchasing $ 1.5 trillion newly issued preferred stock in major banks. The Federal Reserve created then-significant amounts of new currency as a method to combat the liquidity trap . Bailouts came in the form of trillions of dollars of loans, asset purchases, guarantees, and direct spending. Significant controversy accompanied
14746-513: The growing crisis, governments around the world deployed massive bail-outs of financial institutions and other monetary and fiscal policies to prevent a collapse of the global financial system . After the bankruptcy of Lehman Brothers , the fourth largest U.S. investment bank, on September 15, the next day the Fed bailed out the American International Group (the largest U.S. insurance company), and on September 25
14892-421: The higher payments associated with rising interest rates and began to default. During 2007, lenders began foreclosure proceedings on nearly 1.3 million properties, a 79% increase over 2006. This increased to 2.3 million in 2008, an 81% increase vs. 2007. By August 2008, approximately 9% of all U.S. mortgages outstanding were either delinquent or in foreclosure. By September 2009, this had risen to 14.4%. After
15038-546: The late 14th and early 15th centuries, parts of Kosovo, the easternmost area located near Pristina, were part of the Principality of Dukagjini , which was later incorporated into an anti-Ottoman federation of all Albanian principalities, the League of Lezhë . Medieval Monuments in Kosovo is a combined UNESCO World Heritage Site consisting of four Serbian Orthodox churches and monasteries in Deçan , Peja , Prizren and Gračanica . The constructions were founded by members of
15184-525: The latter were forced to accept all fourteen demands of the rebels, which foresaw an effective autonomy for the Albanians living in the Empire. However, this autonomy never materialised, and the revolt created serious weaknesses in the Ottoman ranks, luring Montenegro , Serbia , Bulgaria , and Greece into declaring war on the Ottoman Empire and starting the First Balkan War . After the Ottomans' defeat in
15330-578: The linkage between large financial institutions. The de-leveraging of financial institutions, as assets were sold to pay back obligations that could not be refinanced in frozen credit markets, further accelerated the solvency crisis and caused a decrease in international trade. Reductions in the growth rates of developing countries were due to falls in trade, commodity prices, investment and remittances sent from migrant workers (example: Armenia ). States with fragile political systems feared that investors from Western states would withdraw their money because of
15476-505: The loans. The Federal Reserve took a number of steps to deal with worries about liquidity in the financial markets. One of these steps was a credit line for major traders, who act as the Fed's partners in open market activities. Also, loan programs were set up to make the money market mutual funds and commercial paper market more flexible. Also, the Term Asset-Backed Securities Loan Facility (TALF)
15622-483: The local population. To compensate for the population loss, the Turks encouraged settlement of non-Slav Muslim Albanians in the wider region of Kosovo. By the end of the 18th century, Kosovo would reattain an Albanian majority - with Peja, Prizren, Prishtina becoming especially important towns for the local Muslim population. Although initially stout opponents of the advancing Turks, Albanian chiefs ultimately came to accept
15768-428: The losses suffered in the United States when the 1997–2007 [bubble] deflated." According to Wallison, the reason the U.S. residential housing bubble (as opposed to other types of bubbles) led to financial crisis was that it was supported by a huge number of substandard loans—generally with low or no downpayments. Krugman's contention (that the growth of a commercial real estate bubble indicates that U.S. housing policy
15914-423: The major roads. The most important of the settlements was Ulpiana , which is located near modern-day Gračanica . It was established in the 1st century AD, possibly developing from a concentrated Dardanian oppidum , and then was upgraded to the status of a Roman municipium at the beginning of the 2nd century during the rule of Trajan . Ulpiana became especially important during the rule of Justinian I , after
16060-650: The majority report of the Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission, conservative American Enterprise Institute fellow Peter J. Wallison stated his belief that the roots of the financial crisis can be traced directly and primarily to affordable housing policies initiated by the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) in the 1990s and to massive risky loan purchases by government-sponsored entities Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. Based upon information in
16206-599: The market. To keep it from getting worse, the Fed said it would give money to mutual fund companies. Also, Department of Treasury said that it would briefly cover the assets of the fund. Both of these things helped get the fund market back to normal, which helped the commercial paper market, which most businesses use to run. The FDIC also did a number of things, like raise the insurance cap from $ 100,000 to $ 250,000, to boost customer trust. They engaged in Quantitative Easing , which added more than $ 4 trillion to
16352-683: The onset of the financial crisis of 2007–2008 . Kosovo is a member of the International Monetary Fund , World Bank , EBRD , Venice Commission , the International Olympic Committee , and has applied for membership in the Council of Europe , UNESCO , Interpol , and for observer status in the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation . In December 2022, Kosovo filed a formal application to become
16498-468: The politics of extermination and expulsion, there was also a process of assimilation through religious conversion of Albanian Muslims and Albanian Catholics into the Serbian Orthodox religion which took place as early as 1912. These politics seem to have been inspired by the nationalist ideologies of Ilija Garašanin and Jovan Cvijić . In the winter of 1915–16, during World War I , Kosovo saw
16644-588: The precipitating factor for the Financial Crisis of 2007–2008 was the bursting of the United States housing bubble and the subsequent subprime mortgage crisis , which occurred due to a high default rate and resulting foreclosures of mortgage loans , particularly adjustable-rate mortgages . Some or all of the following factors contributed to the crisis: The relaxing of credit lending standards by investment banks and commercial banks allowed for
16790-501: The price appreciation. In a Peabody Award -winning program, NPR correspondents argued that a "Giant Pool of Money" (represented by $ 70 trillion in worldwide fixed income investments) sought higher yields than those offered by U.S. Treasury bonds early in the decade. This pool of money had roughly doubled in size from 2000 to 2007, yet the supply of relatively safe, income generating investments had not grown as fast. Investment banks on Wall Street answered this demand with products such as
16936-451: The promotion of thousands of small mortgage brokers, and by their close relationship to subprime loan aggregators such as Countrywide . Depending on how "subprime" mortgages are defined, they remained below 10% of all mortgage originations until 2004, when they rose to nearly 20% and remained there through the 2005–2006 peak of the United States housing bubble . The majority report of the Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission , written by
17082-452: The province and World War II , causing the population of Serbs in Kosovo to grow by about 58,000 in this period. Serbian authorities promoted creating new Serb settlements in Kosovo as well as the assimilation of Albanians into Serbian society, causing a mass exodus of Albanians from Kosovo. The figures of Albanians forcefully expelled from Kosovo range between 60,000 and 239,807, while Malcolm mentions 100,000–120,000. In combination with
17228-400: The pyramid suffered a decrease. The following is a timeline of the major events of the financial crisis, including government responses, and the subsequent economic recovery. There is a really good reason for tighter credit. Tens of millions of homeowners who had substantial equity in their homes two years ago have little or nothing today. Businesses are facing the worst downturn since
17374-541: The regime collapsed, this was never materialised with historians and contemporary references emphasising that a large-scale migration of Albanians from Albania to Kosovo is not recorded in Axis documents. The existing province took shape in 1945 as the Autonomous Region of Kosovo and Metohija , with a final demarcation in 1959. Until 1945, the only entity bearing the name of Kosovo in the late modern period had been
17520-638: The region are Istanbul , Athens , Bucharest , Sofia , and Belgrade . The first known use of the term "Southeast Europe" was by Austrian researcher Johann Georg von Hahn (1811–1869) as a broader term than the traditional Balkans , a concept based on the boundaries of the Balkan Peninsula. Countries described in 2004 by Istituto Geografico De Agostini as being entirely within the Balkan region, are: Albania , Bosnia and Herzegovina , Bulgaria , Montenegro , and North Macedonia . However from
17666-416: The relatively conservative government-sponsored enterprises (GSEs) policed mortgage originators and maintained relatively high underwriting standards prior to 2003. However, as market power shifted from securitizers to originators, and as intense competition from private securitizers undermined GSE power, mortgage standards declined and risky loans proliferated. The riskiest loans were originated in 2004–2007,
17812-612: The retreat of the Serbian army as Kosovo was occupied by Bulgaria and Austria-Hungary . In 1918, the Allied Powers pushed the Central Powers out of Kosovo. A new administration system since 26 April 1922 split Kosovo among three districts ( oblast ) of the Kingdom: Kosovo, Raška and Zeta. In 1929, the country was transformed into the Kingdom of Yugoslavia and the territories of Kosovo were reorganised among
17958-782: The separation of Kosovo and the eventual creation of a Greater Albania , had prevailed over the Rugova's non-violent resistance movement and launched attacks against the Yugoslav Army and Serbian police in Kosovo, resulting in the Kosovo War . By 1998, international pressure compelled Yugoslavia to sign a ceasefire and partially withdraw its security forces. Events were to be monitored by Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) observers according to an agreement negotiated by Richard Holbrooke . The ceasefire did not hold and fighting resumed in December 1998, culminating in
18104-407: The settlements have in common is that they are located either near roads, such as Via Lissus - Naissus , or near the mines of North Kosovo and eastern Kosovo. Most of the settlements are archaeological sites that have been discovered recently and are being excavated. It is also known that the region was Christianised during Roman rule, though little is known regarding Christianity in the Balkans in
18250-596: The site of Romajë . The Dardani were the most important Paleo-Balkan tribe in the region of Kosovo. A wide area which consists of Kosovo, parts of Northern Macedonia and eastern Serbia was named Dardania after them in classical antiquity, reaching to the Thraco-Illyrian contact zone in the east. In archaeological research, Illyrian names are predominant in western Dardania, while Thracian names are mostly found in eastern Dardania. Thracian names are absent in western Dardania, while some Illyrian names appear in
18396-610: The six Democratic appointees, the minority report, written by three of the four Republican appointees, studies by Federal Reserve economists, and the work of several independent scholars generally contend that government affordable housing policy was not the primary cause of the financial crisis. Although they concede that governmental policies had some role in causing the crisis, they contend that GSE loans performed better than loans securitized by private investment banks, and performed better than some loans originated by institutions that held loans in their own portfolios. In his dissent to
18542-464: The supply of mortgages originated at traditional lending standards had been exhausted, and continued strong demand began to drive down lending standards. The collateralized debt obligation in particular enabled financial institutions to obtain investor funds to finance subprime and other lending, extending or increasing the housing bubble and generating large fees. This essentially places cash payments from multiple mortgages or other debt obligations into
18688-555: The three first centuries AD. The first clear mention of Christians in literature is the case of Bishop Dacus of Macedonia, from Dardania, who was present at the First Council of Nicaea (325). It is also known that Dardania had a Diocese in the 4th century, and its seat was placed in Ulpiana, which remained the episcopal center of Dardania until the establishment of Justiniana Prima in 535 AD. The first known bishop of Ulpiana
18834-413: The uniform use of geographical names, proposes two sets of boundaries. The first follows international borders of current countries. The second subdivides and includes some countries based on cultural criteria. The following countries are included in their classification "Southeastern Europe": In this classification, Croatia, Hungary and Slovenia are included in Central Europe , while Turkey (East Thrace)
18980-436: The war years. Two Serb historians also estimate that 12,000 Albanians died. An official investigation conducted by the Yugoslav government in 1964 recorded nearly 8,000 war-related fatalities in Kosovo between 1941 and 1945, 5,489 of them Serb or Montenegrin and 2,177 Albanian. Some sources note that up to 72,000 individuals were encouraged to settle or resettle into Kosovo from Albania by the short-lived Italian administration. As
19126-622: The years between 1994 and 2007. They also argue that the Federal Reserve's classification of CRA loans as "prime" is based on the faulty and self-serving assumption that high-interest-rate loans (3 percentage points over average) equal "subprime" loans. Others have pointed out that there were not enough of these loans made to cause a crisis of this magnitude. In an article in Portfolio magazine, Michael Lewis spoke with one trader who noted that "There weren't enough Americans with [bad] credit taking out [bad loans] to satisfy investors' appetite for
19272-515: The years of the most intense competition between securitizers and the lowest market share for the GSEs. The GSEs eventually relaxed their standards to try to catch up with the private banks. A contrarian view is that Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac led the way to relaxed underwriting standards, starting in 1995, by advocating the use of easy-to-qualify automated underwriting and appraisal systems, by designing no-down-payment products issued by lenders, by
19418-524: Was among the five worst financial crises the world had experienced and led to a loss of more than $ 2 trillion from the global economy. U.S. home mortgage debt relative to GDP increased from an average of 46% during the 1990s to 73% during 2008, reaching $ 10.5 (~$ 14.6 trillion in 2023) trillion. The increase in cash out refinancings , as home values rose, fueled an increase in consumption that could no longer be sustained when home prices declined. Many financial institutions owned investments whose value
19564-450: Was bailed-out. Instead of financing more domestic loans, some banks instead spent some of the stimulus money in more profitable areas such as investing in emerging markets and foreign currencies. In July 2010, the Dodd–Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act was enacted in the United States to "promote the financial stability of the United States". The Basel III capital and liquidity standards were adopted worldwide. Since
19710-542: Was based on home mortgages such as mortgage-backed securities , or credit derivatives used to insure them against failure, which declined in value significantly. The International Monetary Fund estimated that large U.S. and European banks lost more than $ 1 trillion on toxic assets and from bad loans from January 2007 to September 2009. Lack of investor confidence in bank solvency and declines in credit availability led to plummeting stock and commodity prices in late 2008 and early 2009. The crisis rapidly spread into
19856-421: Was defeated in 1395–96. A small part of Vuk's land with the villages of Pristina and Vushtrri was given to his sons to hold as Ottoman vassals for a brief period. By 1455–57, the Ottoman Empire assumed direct control of all of Kosovo and the region remained part of the empire until 1912. During this period, Islam was introduced to the region. After the failed siege of Vienna by the Ottoman forces in 1693 during
20002-465: Was depleted and de facto Serbian rulers could not raise another equal force to the Ottoman army. Different parts of Kosovo were ruled directly or indirectly by the Ottomans in this early period. The medieval town of Novo Brdo was under Lazar's son, Stefan who became a loyal Ottoman vassal and instigated the downfall of Vuk Branković who eventually joined the Hungarian anti-Ottoman coalition and
20148-737: Was elected its president. During its lifetime, the Republic of Kosova was only officially recognised by Albania. By the mid-1990s, the Kosovo Albanian population was growing restless, as the status of Kosovo was not resolved as part of the Dayton Agreement of November 1995, which ended the Bosnian War . By 1996, the Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA), an ethnic Albanian guerrilla paramilitary group that sought
20294-533: Was exposed to an increasing number of raids from the 4th century CE onward, culminating with the Slavic migrations of the 6th and 7th centuries. Toponymic evidence suggests that Albanian was probably spoken in Kosovo prior to the Slavic settlement of the region. The overwhelming presence of towns and municipalities in Kosovo with Slavic in their toponymy suggests that the Slavic migrations either assimilated or drove out population groups already living in Kosovo. There
20440-594: Was for the first time applied to a wider area when the Ottoman Vilayet of Kosovo was created in 1877. The entire territory that corresponds to today's country is commonly referred to in English simply as Kosovo and in Albanian as Kosova ( definite form ) or Kosovë (indefinite form, pronounced [kɔˈsɔvə] ). In Serbia, a formal distinction is made between the eastern and western areas of
20586-550: Was made by Community Reinvestment Act (CRA)-covered lenders into low and mid-level income (LMI) borrowers and neighborhoods, representing 10% of all U.S. mortgage lending during the period. The majority of these were prime loans. Sub-prime loans made by CRA-covered institutions constituted a 3% market share of LMI loans in 1998, but in the run-up to the crisis, fully 25% of all subprime lending occurred at CRA-covered institutions and another 25% of subprime loans had some connection with CRA. However, most sub-prime loans were not made to
20732-477: Was moved to Peja , and rulers centred themselves between Prizren and Skopje , during which time thousands of Christian monasteries and feudal-style forts and castles were erected, with Stefan Dušan using Prizren Fortress as one of his temporary courts for a time. When the Serbian Empire fragmented into a conglomeration of principalities in 1371, Kosovo became the hereditary land of the House of Branković . During
20878-461: Was not the cause of the crisis) is challenged by additional analysis. After researching the default of commercial loans during the financial crisis, Xudong An and Anthony B. Sanders reported (in December 2010): "We find limited evidence that substantial deterioration in CMBS [commercial mortgage-backed securities] loan underwriting occurred prior to the crisis." Other analysts support the contention that
21024-522: Was put in place thanks to a joint effort with the US Department of the Treasury. This plan was meant to make it easier for consumers and businesses to get credit by giving Americans who owned high-quality asset-backed securities more credit. Before the crisis, the Federal Reserve's stocks of Treasury securities were sold to pay for the increase in credit. This method was meant to keep banks from trying to give out their extra savings, which could cause
21170-425: Was repressed and both Albanians and Muslim Slavs were encouraged to declare themselves to be Turkish and emigrate to Turkey. At the same time Serbs and Montenegrins dominated the government, security forces, and industrial employment in Kosovo. Albanians resented these conditions and protested against them in the late 1960s, calling the actions taken by authorities in Kosovo colonialist, and demanding that Kosovo be made
21316-488: Was the center of the Albanian Renaissance and experienced the Albanian revolts of 1910 and 1912 . After the Balkan Wars (1912–1913), it was ceded to the Kingdom of Serbia and following World War II, it became an Autonomous Province within Yugoslavia . Tensions between Kosovo's Albanian and Serb communities simmered through the 20th century and occasionally erupted into major violence, culminating in
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