Having ranked countries by their relative macroeconomic performance during the recent crisis, we explore possible explanations for this cross-economy variation. Table 2 summarises four categories of variables measuring: banking system structure, trade openness, financial openness, and monetary and fiscal policy frameworks. Except where otherwise noted, all of these variables are measured at the end of 2007. We also consider the policy response to the crisis, looking at measures such as monetary policy easing, fiscal stimulus and bank bailouts. The remainder of this section describes each of the variables we consider and explains our rationale for thinking that they may contribute.
