Search Results
Journal Article
By the numbers: data and measurement in community economic development
Highlights of a speech by Federal Reserve Chairman Ben S. Bernanke at the Greenlining Institute?s 13th Annual Economic Development Summit in Los Angeles, April 20, 2006.
Journal Article
On the predictive power of interest rates and interest rate spreads
Economists have long understood that financial market variables contain considerable information about the future of the economy. Recently a number of researchers have pointed out that interest rates and interest rate spreads--that is, differences between interest rates on alternative financial assets--can be effective predictors of the economy. ; This finding raises a number of questions, possibly the most important being why interest rates and spreads predict the course of the economy so well. The authors tentative conclusion is that the spread between commercial paper and Treasury bill ...
Conference Paper
Inflation forecasts and monetary policy
Conference Paper
Friedman's monetary framework: some lessons
Working Paper
Measuring monetary policy
Extending the approach of Bernanke and Blinder (1992), Strongin (1992), and Christano, Eichenbaum, and Evans (1994a, 1994b), we develop and apply a VAR-based methodology for measuring the stance of monetary policy. More specifically, we develop a "demi-structural" VAR approach, which extracts information about monetary policy from data on bank reserves and the federal funds rate but leaves the relationships among the macroeconomic variables in the system unrestricted. The methodology can be used to compare and evaluate existing indicators of monetary policy and also to develop an ...
Journal Article
By the numbers: Data and measurement in community economic development
In a speech to the Greenlining Institute, Federal Reserve Board Chairman Ben S. Bernanke speaks to the need for developing and analyzing social and economic data at the local level to do the following: uncover new investment opportunities; provide transparency and promote good governance and sound public policies; and promote independent policy research.
Conference Paper
Agency costs, collateral, and business fluctuations
Conference Paper
What explains the stock market's reaction to Federal Reserve policy?
This paper analyzes the impact of unanticipated changes in the Federal funds target on equity prices, with the aim of both estimating the size of the typical reaction, and understanding the reasons for the market's response. On average over the May 1989 to December 2001 sample, a "typical" unanticipated 25 basis point rate cut has been associated with a 1.3 percent increase in the S&P 500 composite index. The estimated response varies considerably across industries, with the greatest sensitivity observed in cyclical industries like construction, and the smallest in mining and utilities. ...
Conference Paper
Asia and the global financial crisis (welcome address)
Conference Paper
The real effects of financial crises: theory and evidence