We study how total factor productivity (TFP), energy prices and the great moderation are linked. First, we estimate a joint stochastic process for the energy price and TFP and establish that until 1982:II, energy prices negatively affected productivity. This spill-over has since disappeared....

The empirical evidence from the last decade suggests that sizeable increases in housing defaults can be the result of either income shocks (recession 2001) or changes in the market value of the house (2005-2007 period). The objective of this paper is to understand the double feedback mechanism...