Journal Article
What do asset prices tell us about the future?
Smith, Stephen D. (1999-07)
It is fairly obvious that in market-based economies prices act as a constraint on individual behavior, providing a means by which goods and services flow to those most willing and able to pay for them. But prices play an additional role in the economy-that of signaling the present and expected future state of affairs. Having accurate forecast information is particularly important to policymakers, who are concerned with acting in advance to avoid bad economic outcomes rather than simply reacting to events. ; This article reviews the theoretical literature regarding the extent to which asset ...
Economic Review , Volume 84 , Issue Q3 , Pages 4-13

Journal Article
The buck stops where? The role of limited liability in economics
Smith, Stephen D.; Noe, Thomas H. (1997-01-01)
Over the last few centuries laws have increasingly protected individuals and corporations from liability resulting from bad economic outcomes. This evolution in liability provisions, by many accounts, has significantly influenced both the level and distribution of contemporary economic output as well as the allocation of financial resources in today's financial markets. ; Through a review of an extensive and growing literature, the authors of this article consider how limited liability affects investment, labor, and financing decisions made by individuals and corporations as well as ...
Economic Review , Volume 82 , Issue Q 1 , Pages 46-56

Journal Article
Buy, sell, or hold? Valuing cash flows from mortgage lending
Smith, Stephen D.; Jacob, Paul; Gilkeson, James H. (1994-11)
Economic Review , Volume 79 , Issue Nov , Pages 1-16

Journal Article
The convexity trap: pitfalls in financing mortgage portfolios and related securities
Smith, Stephen D.; Gilkeson, James H. (1992-11)
Economic Review , Issue Nov , Pages 14-27

Journal Article
Policy essay--new tools for regulators in a high-tech world
Smith, Stephen D.; Tschinkel, Sheila L. (1993-03)
Economic Review , Issue Mar , Pages 45-50

Journal Article
Financial panics, bank failures, and the role of regulatory policy
Wall, Larry D.; Smith, Stephen D. (1992-01)
Economic Review , Issue Jan , Pages 1-11

Journal Article
The rise of risk management
Smith, Stephen D.; Cummins, J. David; Phillips, Richard D. (1998-01-01)
Risk management is nothing new, despite the increased attention given to the subject over the past decade or two. For well over one hundred years farmers have engaged in risk management, hedging their risks against price fluctuations in commodity markets. Unlike a family farmer, however, a corporation is owned by shareholders, who can, if they so wish, greatly reduce or eliminate the risk of low prices simply by holding a diversified portfolio. ; Why, then, are managers doing for shareholders what shareholders apparently can do for themselves? This article provides a review of the rationales ...
Economic Review , Volume 83 , Issue Q 1 , Pages 30-40

Journal Article
Private insurance of public debt: another look at the costs and benefits of municipal insurance
Smith, Stephen D.; Harper, Richard B. (1993-09)
Economic Review , Issue Sep , Pages 27-38

Journal Article
Analyzing risk and return for mortgage-backed securities
Smith, Stephen D. (1991-01)
Economic Review , Issue Jan , Pages 2-11

Working Paper
Decentralized production and public liquidity with private information
Smith, Stephen D.; Nachman, David C. (2000)
Firms with private information about the outcomes of production under uncertainty may face capital (liquidity) constraints that prevent them from attaining efficient levels of investment in a world with costly and/or imperfect monitoring. As an alternative, we examine the efficiency of a simple pooling scheme designed to provide a public (cooperative) supply of liquidity that results in the first best outcome for economic growth. We show that if, absent aggregate uncertainty, the elasticity of scale of the production technology is sufficiently small, then efficient levels of investment and ...
FRB Atlanta Working Paper , Paper 2000-2