CREI (a research institute sponsored by UPF) publishes the ‘Opuscles‘, which are usually written by a professor from UPF or UAB and describe the research interests of the author. The last number (35), published on December 2013, was written by my supervisor, and it talks about credit cycles and systemic risk. In a nutshell, it explains why banks may start lending ‘too much’, in particular because of problems inside the banking sector; it also talks about a very costly situation called a credit crunch, and it finishes discussing some conclusions on the role of macroprudential policy to help alleviate these problems. It is supposed to be for the general public, not only economists, so it is relatively easy to read. There is even a version in Catalan, translated by myself. So take a look at it in here if you are a little bit interested in the topic!