Contents -- I. Introduction -- II. Asset Price Busts in the Modern Era -- A. Defining Asset Price Busts -- B. Patterns in macroeconomic Variables in the Run-Up to a Bust -- III. How Good are These Variables as Indicators of Asset Price Busts? -- IV. Macroeconomic Patterns Ahead of the Current Crisis -- A. The Role of Monetary Policy -- V. Conclusion -- References -- Data Appendix -- Tables -- 1. House Price and Stock Price Busts from 1970 to 2008 -- 2. Classification of Observations Based on variable Thresholds -- 3. Percentiles Used as Thresholds for Alarms -- 4. Marginal Probabilities Based on Probit Regressions -- Figures -- 1. Asset Price Busts -- 2. Selected Macroeconomic Variables Before and During House Price Busts -- 3. Selected Macroeconomic Variables Before and During Stock Price Busts -- 4. Selected Macroeconomic Variables Before and During High-Cost and Other House Price Busts, 1985-2008 -- 5. The Probability of an Asset Price Bust -- 6. The Failure of the Indicators to Predict an Asset Price Bust -- 7. Recent Developments in House and Stock Prices -- 8. Warning Signs for Recent House Price Busts -- 9. Macroeconomic Patterns Underlying Recent House Price Booms -- 10. Recent House Price Booms and Household Balance Sheets -- 11. Monetary Conditions Leading up to the Current Crisis -- 12. Inflation and Output for Advnaced Economies in Recent Years -- 13. House Prices and Monetary Conditions -- 14. Stock Prices and Monetary Conditions -- 15. Growth Rate of Nominal Credit Relative to GDP and Real Policy Rates -- 16. Selected Macroeconomic Variables Before and During House Price Busts -- 17. Selected Macroeconomic Variables Before and During Stock Price Busts.