Resumen en español

The financial crisis that affected the North American economy, and in general the economies of most of the developed countries, which origin was initially pointed out in the securitization of mortgage portfolio subprime, has more complex causes that perhaps the supervisors, the certifying agencies, the banks, the institutional investors and other economic agents, didn’t discern in their right dimensions. The economic growth generated a liquidity in the worldwide economy that gave rise to a decrease of spreads by period and by risk*, that came along with the development of financial innovations and with an increase in the appetite for risk of many investors, that led them to make the wrong decisions for their risk profile. The globalization of the economy gave the crisis some dimensions that were unsuspected in other times and it showed up extraordinary challenges for those who must face this crisis, which has led to set out deep changes in the regulation and supervision of the financial systems. This article analyzes the backgrounds, the developments, the measures taken and the foreseeable futures of the crisis, in the worldwide economy, with emphasis in the United States, concluding with an analysis of the situation of Colombia, regarding the crisis.