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Working Paper
The Role of Government and Private Institutions in Credit Cycles in the U.S. Mortgage Market
The distribution of combined loan-to-value ratios (CLTVs) for purchase mortgages has been remarkably stable in the U.S. over the last 25 years. But the source of high-CLTV loans changed during the housing boom of the 2000s, with private securitization replacing FHA and VA loans directly guaranteed by the government. This substitution holds within ZIP codes, properties, and borrower types. Furthermore, the two groups exhibit similar delinquency rates. These findings suggest credit expanded predominantly through the increase in asset values rather than a relaxation of CLTV constraints, which ...
Working Paper
Sovereign Debt Crises
Sovereign debt crises have been recurrent events over the past two centuries. In recent years, the timing of sovereign crises has coincided or has directly followed banking crises. The link between sovereigns and banks tightened as the contingent liability that the banking sector represents for the sovereign grew, as financial "safety nets" became more common. This chapter analyzes the transmission channels between sovereigns and banks, with a focus on the effect of sovereign distress on bank solvency and financing. It then highlights the notable cost to the real economy of the close ...
Working Paper
Financial Instability with Circulating Debt Claims and Endogenous Debt Limits
This paper develops a banking model in which intermediaries issue liabilities that circulate as a medium of exchange to finance loans to entrepreneurs, who use the proceeds to fund the accumulation of capital goods. The issuance of circulating liabilities, together with endogenous debt limits, gives rise to a franchise value for intermediaries. A competitive equilibrium with endogenous debt limits admits allocations that are characterized by a funding crisis and a self-fulfilling collapse of the banking system, with the intermediary’s franchise value eroding over time. In view of these ...