A central proposition in research on the role that banks play in the transmission mechanism is that monetary policy imparts a direct impact on deposits and that deposits, insofar as they constitute the supply of loanable funds, act as the driving force of bank lending. This paper argues that the...

We demonstrate that financial cycles (identified as common fluctuations in credit and asset prices, proxying balance-sheet leverage) strongly differ across countries, e.g., in duration. This is contradictory to a similar duration assumption inherent in prevalent proxies of financial cycles, such...

We evaluate and partially challenge the 'household leverage' view of the Great Recession. In the data, employment and consumption declined more in states where household debt declined more. We study a model where liquidity constraints amplify the response of consumption and employment to changes...

In response to the global financial crisis and subsequent Great Recession, central banks embarked on a variety of unconventional measures. Among others, credit policy has been widely employed in many advanced economies. However, credit policy is far less understood than unconventional monetary...

This paper analyzes how bank loan commitments affect loan supply and macroeconomic volatility. Using testable implications derived from a model in which a bank faces stochastic loan commitment takedown, our bank-level empirical test provides evidence that when financial markets get tighter,...

Consider two views of the global financial crisis. One view looks across the border: it blames external imbalances, the unprecedented current account deficits and surpluses in recent years. Another view looks within the border: it faults domestic financial systems where risks originated in...

The paper constitutes a discussion of the rise of Peer to Peer loans as alternative investments. Peer to Peer loans are being incorporated into portfolios in the interest of diversification. This paper outlines the strategy and provides a guided tour to this new alternative asset class, along...