In a bid to stabilize financial markets, Bank of Japan Gov. Masaaki Shirakawa denied Wednesday that the current global economic crisis is similar to the Great Depression of the 1930s.
"Jolts that we have never experienced since the 1930s are currently ravaging the international financial and capital markets," the governor said during a speech at a Tokyo business seminar.
The tension in the markets drastically intensified after the collapse of Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. in September, he added.