Monetary Circuit and Real Transmission Channels of Financial
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Against Regulatory Stimulus
University of Colorado Law School Colorado Law Scholarly Commons Articles Colorado Law Faculty Scholarship 2020 Against Regulatory Stimulus Erik F. Gerding University of Colorado Law School Follow this and additional works at: https://scholar.law.colorado.edu/articles Part of the Administrative Law Commons, Banking and Finance Law Commons, Law and Economics Commons, and the Legislation Commons Citation Information Erik F. Gerding, Against Regulatory Stimulus, 83 LAW & CONTEMP. PROBS. 49 (2020), available at https://scholar.law.colorado.edu/articles/1268. Copyright Statement Copyright protected. Use of materials from this collection beyond the exceptions provided for in the Fair Use and Educational Use clauses of the U.S. Copyright Law may violate federal law. Permission to publish or reproduce is required. This Article is brought to you for free and open access by the Colorado Law Faculty Scholarship at Colorado Law Scholarly Commons. It has been accepted for inclusion in Articles by an authorized administrator of Colorado Law Scholarly Commons. For more information, please contact [email protected]. BOOK PROOF -G ERDING (DO NOT DELETE) 3/1/2020 10:34 PM AGAINST REGULATORY STIMULUS ERIK F. GERDING* I INTRODUCTION The 2012 JOBS Act1 deserves close scrutiny not only because of its impact on federal securities laws, but because it represented an attempt by Congress to use deregulation as a macroeconomic tool to jumpstart growth. When enacted in 2012, the U.S. economy was still struggling to recover from the global financial crisis. After the crisis, traditional macroeconomic tools were either rendered ineffective or appeared politically infeasible. Interest rates were already close to zero, and fears grew that global economies had entered a “liquidity trap.”2 Meanwhile, the Republican-controlled House of Representatives consistently blocked Democrats’ fiscal spending initiatives. -
Chapter 28 | Monetary Policy and Bank Regulation 635 28 | Monetary Policy and Bank Regulation
Chapter 28 | Monetary Policy and Bank Regulation 635 28 | Monetary Policy and Bank Regulation Figure 28.1 Marriner S. Eccles Federal Reserve Headquarters, Washington D.C. Some of the most influential decisions regarding monetary policy in the United States are made behind these doors. (Credit: modification of work by “squirrel83”/Flickr Creative Commons) The Problem of the Zero Percent Interest Rate Lower Bound Most economists believe that monetary policy (the manipulation of interest rates and credit conditions by a nation’s central bank) has a powerful influence on a nation’s economy. Monetary policy works when the central bank reduces interest rates and makes credit more available. As a result, business investment and other types of spending increase, causing GDP and employment to grow. But what if the interest rates banks pay are close to zero already? They cannot be made negative, can they? That would mean that lenders pay borrowers for the privilege of taking their money. Yet, this was the situation the U.S. Federal Reserve found itself in at the end of the 2008–2009 recession. The federal funds rate, which is the interest rate for banks that the Federal Reserve targets with its monetary policy, was slightly above 5% in 2007. By 2009, it had fallen to 0.16%. The Federal Reserve’s situation was further complicated because fiscal policy, the other major tool for managing the economy, was constrained by fears that the federal budget deficit and the public debt were already too high. What were the Federal Reserve’s options? How could monetary policy be used to stimulate the economy? The answer, as we will see in this chapter, was to change the rules of the game. -
Inflation and Other Risks of Unsound Money
Inflation and Other Risks of Unsound Money Prepared by Martin Hickling Presented to the Actuaries Institute Actuaries Summit 20-21 May 2013 Sydney This paper has been prepared for Actuaries Institute 2013 Actuaries Summit. The Institute Council wishes it to be understood that opinions put forward herein are not necessarily those of the Institute and the Council is not responsible for those opinions. copyright Martin Hickling The Institute will ensure that all reproductions of the paper acknowledge the Author/s as the author/s, and include the above copyright statement. Institute of Actuaries of Australia ABN 69 000 423 656 Level 7, 4 Martin Place, Sydney NSW Australia 2000 t +61 (0) 2 9233 3466 f +61 (0) 2 9233 3446 e [email protected] w www.actuaries.asn.au Inflation and Other Risks of Unsound Money Purpose of paper To investigate Austrian economic literature and explain to an actuarial audience the concepts of ‘sound money’ (normally a commodity based medium of exchange) and the risks, including inflation, of the current ‘unsound’ government-issued fiat based money system. Abstract No form of money is perfect. Even gold suffers from new supply – although it is quite difficult and costly to mine. Austrian economic theory helps us to understand the distortions and ultimate consequences of injections of government fiat paper money. As the new money is created it dilutes purchasing power of the holders of money - in a free market this is the people who have produced more than they have consumed - and reduces the real value of holders of nominal debts. -
Should Monetary Policy "Lean Or Clean"?
Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas Globalization and Monetary Policy Institute Working Paper No. 34 http://www.dallasfed.org/assets/documents/institute/wpapers/2009/0034.pdf Should Monetary Policy “Lean or Clean”?* William R. White August 2009 Abstract It has been contended by many in the central banking community that monetary policy would not be effective in “leaning” against the upswing of a credit cycle (the boom) but that lower interest rates would be effective in “cleaning” up (the bust) afterwards. In this paper, these two propositions (can’t lean, but can clean) are examined and found seriously deficient. In particular, it is contended in this paper that monetary policies designed solely to deal with short term problems of insufficient demand could make medium term problems worse by encouraging a buildup of debt that cannot be sustained over time. The conclusion reached is that monetary policy should be more focused on “preemptive tightening” to moderate credit bubbles than on “preemptive easing” to deal with the after effects. There is a need for a new macrofinancial stability framework that would use both regulatory and monetary instruments to resist credit bubbles and thus promote sustainable economic growth over time. JEL codes: E5 * William R. White is currently the chairman of the Economic Development and Review Committee at the OECD in Paris. He was previously Economic Advisor and Head of the Monetary and Economic Department at the Bank for International Settlements in Basel, Switzerland. +41- (0) 79-834-90-66. [email protected]. This paper grew out of a presentation at a Monetary Roundtable at the Bank of England, and has benefitted from comments made at conferences at Bank Negara Malaysia in Kuala Lumpur, and at the Centre for Financial Studies in Frankfurt, Germany. -
It's Baaack: Japan's Slump and the Return of the Liquidity Trap
PAUL R. KRUGMAN Massachusetts Institute of Technology It's Baaack: Japan's Slump and the Return of the Liquidity Trap THE LIQUIDITY TRAP-that awkward condition in which monetary policy loses its grip because the nominal interest rate is essentially zero, in which the quantity of money becomes irrelevant because money and bonds are essentially perfect substitutes-played a central role in the early years of macroeconomics as a discipline. John Hicks, in intro- ducing both the IS-LM model and the liquidity trap, identified the assumption that monetary policy is ineffective, rather than the assumed downward inflexibility of prices, as the central difference between Mr. Keynes and the classics. ' It has often been pointed out that the Alice in Wonderland character of early Keynesianism-with its paradoxes of thrift, widows' cruses, and so on-depended on the explicit or implicit assumption of an accommodative monetary policy; it has less often been pointed out that in the late 1930s and early 1940s it seemed quite natural to assume that money was irrelevant at the margin. After all, at the end of the 1930s interest rates were hard up against the zero con- straint; the average rate on U.S. Treasury bills during 1940 was 0.014 percent. Since then, however, the liquidity trap has steadily receded both as a memory and as a subject of economic research. In part, this is because in the generally inflationary decades after World War II nominal interest rates have stayed comfortably above zero, and therefore central banks have no longer found themselves "pushing on a string." Also, the experience of the 1930s itself has been reinterpreted, most notably by 1. -
Japan's Financial Crisis and Its Parallels to US Experience
1 Introduction: Financial Similarities and Monetary Differences Adam S. Posen Japanese macroeconomic and financial policy in the past decade has failed to respond adequately to the largest financial crisis to occur in an industrial democracy in the past 60 years. The role of this inadequate policy response in deepening and lengthening Japan’s stagnation since 1992—the costliest recession suffered by any advanced economy in the postwar period— has brought a wide consensus of frustration among economists interna- tionally. Contrary to the popular picture of economists continually dis- agreeing with one another on macroeconomic issues, the analysis of finan- cial crises (at least of those occurring in the industrial world) is an area where much agreement exists. Economists agree that such crises are the source of most of the costliest recorded interruptions in countries’ eco- nomic growth, that they usually follow situations of partial deregulation and of asset price bubbles, that they require some combination of bank closures and public capital infusion to resolve, and that they both constrain and respond to monetary policy decisions. None of this is to say that Japanese economic officials made unique mistakes—part of the reason for the consensus on just how bad financial crises are is that we have had so much experience with them. As Yoshinori Shimizu notes in his essay in this volume1: ‘‘The period 1980-96 witnessed widespread financial deregulation for many of the world’s economies. As a result of this increasingly competitive environment, 133 out of 181 Adam S. Posen is a senior fellow at the Institute for International Economics. -
BIS Working Papers No 763 on Money, Debt, Trust and Central Banking by Claudio Borio
BIS Working Papers No 763 On money, debt, trust and central banking by Claudio Borio Monetary and Economic Department January 2019 JEL classification: E00, E30, E40, E50, G21, N20 Keywords: Monetary system, money, debt, payments, trust, monetary stability, financial stability, central bank BIS Working Papers are written by members of the Monetary and Economic Department of the Bank for International Settlements, and from time to time by other economists, and are published by the Bank. The papers are on subjects of topical interest and are technical in character. The views expressed in them are those of their authors and not necessarily the views of the BIS. This publication is available on the BIS website (www.bis.org). © Bank for International Settlements 2019. All rights reserved. Brief excerpts may be reproduced or translated provided the source is stated. ISSN 1020-0959 (print) ISSN 1682-7678 (online) On money, debt, trust and central banking1 Claudio Borio Abstract This essay examines in detail the properties of a well functioning monetary system – defined as money plus the mechanisms to execute payments – in both the short and long run, drawing on both theory and the lessons from history. It stresses the importance of trust and of the institutions needed to secure it. Ensuring price and financial stability is critical to nurturing and maintaining that trust. In the process, the essay addresses several related questions, such as the relationship between money and debt, the viability of cryptocurrencies as money, money neutrality, and the nexus between monetary and financial stability. While the present monetary system, with central banks and a prudential apparatus at its core, can and must be improved, it still provides the best basis to build on. -
Monetary Policy Itself Has Lost the Ability to Stabilize Financial Markets and the Economy Those Markets Are Intended to Serve
BROKEN SYSTEMS: AGENDAS FOR FINANCIAL AND MONETARY REFORM Jane D'Arista Financial Markets Center Paper prepared for the 17th Annual Hyman P. Minsky Conference on “Credit Markets and the Real Economy: Is the Financial System Working?” Levy Economics Institute, Bard College, Annandale-on-Hudson, NY, April 17, 2008 1 Introduction After of the eruption of the sub-prime mortgage crisis in the summer of 2007, criticisms of past and present Federal Reserve policies became more frequent. In December 2007, the Fed’s belated proposals for regulating all mortgage lenders suggested that it was engaged in the proverbial closing of the barn door after the horses were out. Why it had not thought such restrictions were needed earlier seemed evidence of its ideological commitment to deregulation rather than a pragmatic assessment of developments that could cause market disruption and systemic fragility. But the Fed’s ideological commitments extended beyond its failure to monitor and control poor lending practices and fraud. Fed authorities also ignored ways in which monetary policy itself has lost the ability to stabilize financial markets and the economy those markets are intended to serve. The Fed’s monetary influence weakened as it chose to champion deregulation and innovation and gave market forces a larger role in determining credit expansion. It paid no attention to the way that foreign capital inflows drove up the supply of credit and ignored the explosion in debt that unchecked credit expansion produced. And, as debt soared, the Fed ignored the asset bubbles it fueled. Also ignored were critical changes in the structure of financial markets that eroded the effectiveness of monetary tools used to transmit policy initiatives to the real economy. -
Are the Effects of Monetary Policy Asymmetric?
Economic Brief March 2017, EB17-03 Are the Effects of Monetary Policy Asymmetric? By Regis Barnichon, Christian Matthes, and Tim Sablik The Federal Reserve uses monetary policy to stimulate the economy when unemployment is high and to rein in inflationary pressures when the econ- omy is overheating. However, evidence suggests that these policy stances have unequal effects. Contractionary monetary shocks raise unemployment more strongly than expansionary shocks lower it. The Federal Reserve has a “dual mandate” to policies during the Great Recession after reduc- maintain stable prices and maximum sustain- ing its target rate to nearly zero seemed to have able employment. It does so primarily by con- little effect on unemployment. trolling its target interest rate (the federal funds rate), which influences short-term market rates. Monetary policy asymmetry is best described When unemployment is elevated, the Fed loos- using a metaphor. Imagine a string with mon- ens monetary policy (lowers its target rate) to etary policy at one end and the economy at the stimulate economic activity and boost output. other. Employing tight monetary policy when When inflation is rising, the Fed tightens policy inflation is rising is like pulling on the string to (raises its target rate) to slow economic activity keep the economy in check — it works fairly and counteract inflationary pressure. well. But attempting to stimulate the economy with loose policy during a downturn is like try- But are both types of policy responses equally ing to push on the string to move the economy effective? Since the Great Depression, econo- — not very effective. mists have suspected that tight policy may have a stronger effect on output than loose In addition to monetary changes having asym- policy because the Fed’s response to the market metric effects based on their direction, the crash of 1929 failed to avert the Great Depres- strength of monetary policy may also vary with sion. -
9780521850131 Index.Pdf
Cambridge University Press 0521850134 - A History of Central Banking in Great Britain and the United States John H. Wood Index More information Index Accord, Treasury-Federal Reserve, on lender of last resort, 69, 75–77, 89–94, 236–238 109, 112, 115, 202 Acheson, Dean, 266, 296 Balderston, C. Canby, 356 Ackley, Gardner, 357 Balke, Nathan S., 144, 200 Acres, Marston, 1 Bank Charter Act of 1833, 68, 398 Agricultural Adjustment Act, Bank Charter Act of 1844, 21, 24, 86–87, 213–214 276 Ahearn, Daniel S., 254 as base rule, 80–81 Aldenham, Lord, 306–307 purpose of, 101 Aldrich, Nelson, 160, 161 relevance of, 89, 93, 107–108, 114 Aldrich plan, 160–161, 163–164 suspensions of, 99–100 Aldrich-Vreeland Act, 162–163 Bank for International Settlements, Alexander, James, 179 319 Althorp, Viscount, 29–30, 67–74, 230 Bank holiday of 1933, 209–210, 213 American Bankers Association, 164 Banking Act of 1933, 357 American/British loan, 293–297 Banking Act of 1935, 2, 196, 218–222 Amiens, Peace of, 12 Banking School, 77, 81–85 Amory, Heathcoat, 305, 313 Bank of England Anderson, Richard G., 7 and American loan, 295–297 Andreades, A., 1 under Bank Restriction Act, 9–12 Angell, Wayne D., 188–189 and Bretton Woods, 267–270 Appropriations Act of 1881, 149 before Bullion Committee, 8–9, 14–20 Ashley, W. J., 364 and the City, 301 Ashurst, Henry, 215 charters of, 2, 37–41, 67–69, 75, 86–87 assignats, 218 as commitment, 390 Astor, John Jacob, 130 compared with Federal Reserve, 94, Attwood, Matthias, 79 277–280 Attwood, Thomas, 49–50, 80, 87 and Competition and Credit Control, 323, 326 Bagehot problem, 112 and controls, 299–300, 306 Bagehot, Walter, 2, 32, 113, 114, 159 directors of, 5, 9, 37, 73–74 on Bank governance, 73, 75, 109 establishment of, 2, 32–38 on Bullion Committee testimony, 13 and economists, 281, 287 425 © Cambridge University Press www.cambridge.org Cambridge University Press 0521850134 - A History of Central Banking in Great Britain and the United States John H. -
The Inherent Hierarchy of Money
0 The Inherent Hierarchy of Money by Perry Mehrling January 25, 2012 Prepared for Duncan Foley festschrift volume, and conference April 20-21, 2012. 1 Always and everywhere, monetary systems are hierarchical. One way that economists have tried to get an analytical grip on this empirical fact is to distinguish money (the means of final settlement) from credit (a promise to pay money, or means of delaying final settlement).1 This is fine so far as it goes. But in one sense it doesn‟t go far enough because it posits only two layers of the hierarchy. And in another sense it goes too far because what counts as final settlement depends on what layer we are talking about. What looks like money at one level of the system looks like credit from the standpoint of the level above. I. To see this point more clearly, think about a monetary system under a gold standard, and think not about money and credit in the abstract but rather about concrete financial instruments: gold, currency, bank deposits, and securities. A Simple Hierarchy Money Gold ↑ Currency ↑ Deposits Credit Securities 2 In such a world gold is the ultimate money because it is the ultimate international means of payment, and national currencies are a form of credit in the sense that they are promises to pay gold. National currencies may be “backed” by gold, in the sense that the issuer of currency holds some gold as reserve, but that doesn‟t mean that these currencies represent gold or are at the same hierarchical level as gold. -
The Role of Banks in the Transmission of Monetary Policy
No. 13-5 The Role of Banks in the Transmission of Monetary Policy Joe Peek and Eric S. Rosengren Abstract The transmission of monetary policy, especially in light of recent events, has received increased attention, especially with respect to the efficacy of the bank lending channel. This paper summarizes the issues associated with isolating the bank lending channel and determining the extent to which it is operational. Evidence on the effectiveness of the bank lending channel is presented, both in the United States and abroad. The paper then provides observations about the likely consequences for the effectiveness of the lending channel of the changes in the financial environment associated with the recent financial crisis. Keywords: bank lending channel, loan supply, monetary policy, financial crisis, bank regulation, financial innovation. JEL Classifications: E52, G21 Joe Peek is a vice president of the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston and head of the financial section in the research department. Eric S. Rosengren is president of the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston. Their email addresses are, respectively, [email protected] and [email protected]. This paper is a work in progress and is forthcoming in print in The Oxford Handbook of Banking, 2nd edition, edited by Allen N. Berger, Philip Molyneux and John O. S. Wilson, and online at http://www.oxfordhandbooks.com/. The views expressed in this paper are the authors’ and do not necessarily reflect those of the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston, the Federal Reserve System, or the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC). This paper, which may be revised, is available on the web site of the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston at http://www.bostonfed.org/economic/ppdp/index.htm.