Search Results
Briefing
U.S. household deleveraging: what do the aggregate and household-level data tell us?
Deleveraging is the process by which households decide that their level of debt is inconsistent with their revised economic outlook and adjust their leverage accordingly, primarily by substituting debt repayment for consumption. Household deleveraging is a commonly cited reason for the sluggish consumption growth experienced during the current economic recovery from the Great Recession. This policy brief analyzes the impact of household debt repayment on consumer spending during and after the Great Recession by using aggregate and household-level data. Overall, the data show little evidence ...
Working Paper
Sovereign debt restructurings and the IMF: implications for future official interventions
This paper studies the role played by the IMF during sovereign debt restructurings and extracts lessons for future official interventions. To do so, I compare twelve recent debt restructurings. I begin by detailing the main features (?restructuring strategies?) of each episode. I then analyze the involvement of the Fund and relate it to the above-cited strategies. Despite the wide heterogeneity both in restructuring strategies and in the scope of IMF?s involvement, the Fund exerted a substantial influence. This influence came, not only through the provision of official finance and by setting ...
Journal Article
International debt management
Journal Article
Classical reflections on the deficit
Journal Article
Financing the deficit
Speech
Thoughts on Bastiat (with a nod to Keynes!)
Remarks at the Bastiat?Hoiles Prize Dinner, New York City, NY, November 12, 2011 ; "As Bastiat wrote in the aftermath of the French Revolution of 1848, we are at risk of becoming a nation where 'the state is responsible for providing a living for everyone.' The reality is that even if this were desirable, which it is not, pliant fiscal authorities?Republican and Democrat?who have led us down this road for decades find themselves in a financial cul de sac; they have run out of enabling money."
Working Paper
The importance of check-cashing businesses to the unbanked: racial/ethnic differences
The roughly 9.5 percent of all U.S. families that are without some type of transaction account (unbanked) are disproportionately represented by minorities. The unbanked often must rely on alternative ways to carry out basic financial transactions such as cashing payroll checks and paying bills. This study analyzes unique survey data and finds that a consumer's decision to patronize check-cashing businesses is jointly made with the decision to be unbanked. For the unbanked, these businesses are an important source for financial services. Attributes that contribute to these decisions, however, ...
Journal Article
Fiscal policy and debt management
Working Paper
Optimal public debt structure
Journal Article
Notes from the field: interview with CCCS of Greater Dallas
In an interview with the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas, Todd Mark, vice president of education at Consumer Credit Counseling Service (CCCS) of Greater Dallas, discusses the biggest issues clients are facing.