The Housing Collateral Engine: How Shadow Banking, China, and the Fed Turned Mortgages Into Global Money (2001–2008)

After the dot-com crash, the world didn’t deleverage — it rewired. Between 2001 and 2008, China’s WTO entry, Asian reserve accumulation, low Fed rates, and an explosive securitization boom turned U.S. housing into the core collateral engine of the global dollar system. When that engine failed, shadow banking imploded and central banks crossed the Rubicon into unlimited liquidity.