The euro area has experienced a financial crisis and severe recession, alongside other OECD economies, followed by a sovereign debt crisis in some euro area countries. The end of the global asset price and credit booms led to weaknesses in the financial sector that started to appear in 2007. This intensified in September 2008, following the failure of Lehman Brothers, leading to a full-blown financial crisis and a dramatic contraction of private demand and world trade. Considerable policy stimulus has helped to stabilise the economy through a rapid easing of monetary conditions, supportive fiscal policy and large-scale government support to the financial system.