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Speech
Financial innovation: engine of growth or source of instability?
University of Illinois-Springfield, Springfield, Ill., March 6, 2008
Working Paper
Can financial innovation help to explain the reduced volatility of economic activity?
The stabilization of economic activity in the mid 1980s has received considerable attention. Research has focused primarily on the role played by milder economic shocks, improved inventory management, and better monetary policy. This paper explores another potential explanation: financial innovation. Examples of such innovation include developments in lending practices and loan markets that have enhanced the ability of households and firms to borrow and changes in government policy such as the demise of Regulation Q. We employ a variety of simple empirical techniques to identify links between ...