Many consumers who lack checking accounts are paying relatively high costs to access the nation's payments system. Legislation aimed at opening the system to these unbanked individuals has centered on requiring commercial banks to offer low-cost 'lifeline' accounts. But will cost savings alone...

Last year's sharp drop in the capital ratios of bank holding companies could cast doubt on the companies' future capital strength, especially if credit quality eroded significantly or if profitability weakened. However, an analysis linking the drop in ratios to bank efforts to increase...

The securities industry is more important than ever to the New York City economy, and a protracted downturn in the industry's employment could seriously hurt the overall job picture. Increased stability in other New York City industries, however, could help soften the economic effects of such a...

From the fall of 1997 to the spring of 1999, yield spreads in Japan's corporate bond market increased sharply. An analysis of this rapid rise suggests that Japanese investors in corporate bonds may be paying closer attention to the credit risk of individual issuers. Such a shift in investor...

Because volatile short-term movements in productivity growth obscure the underlying trend, shifts in this trend may go unrecognized for years - a lag that can lead to policy mistakes and hence economic instability. This study develops a model for tracking productivity that brings in additional...

Although New York City's payroll employment is rising briskly, it still falls short of its 2001 peak, raising concerns that the local economy is not generating enough jobs. However, a look at a broader set of economic indicators-alternative job measures, wage and salary earnings, and a composite...

The skilled and well-educated workforce of the New York metropolitan area has played a large role in enabling the region to withstand adverse economic shocks and adapt successfully to a services economy. A further expansion of this "human capital" will enable the metro area to meet the...

In July 2006, the Federal Reserve will end its provision of free daylight credit to government-sponsored enterprises (GSEs), financial services corporations created by Congress to establish a secondary market in mortgages and other consumer loans. To meet their payments to investors, the GSEs...

In recent years, oil-exporting countries have experienced windfall gains with the rise in the price of oil. A look at how oil exporters "recycle" their revenues reveals that roughly half of the petrodollar windfall has gone to purchase foreign goods, especially from Europe and China, while the...

Recent declines in the U.S. current account and fiscal balances have sparked renewed debate over the twin-deficit hypothesis, which argues that a larger fiscal deficit, through its effect on national saving, leads to an expanded current account deficit. This study reviews international evidence...