Hall (1978) theorized that future consumption could be written only as a function of its current consumption. Since this result is known to be wrong in data, we reexamine, from Flavin's original equations (1981), how they may have reached this conclusion. In the Appendix, we derive a generic...

This paper relates to the macroeconomic and monetary policy aspects of the so-called "credit channel" of monetary transmission. We present an intertemporal macroeconomic equilibrium model of a competitive economy where current production is financed by bank credit, and then we use it to identify...

This paper studies the structure and time consistency of optimal monetary policy from a public finance perspective in an economy where agents differ in preference for liquidity and holdings of nominal assets. I find that the presence of distributional effects breaks the link between time...

This paper looks at the history of money and its modern form from a scientific and mathematical point of view. The approach here is to emphasize simplicity. A straightforward model and algebraic formula for a large economy analogous to the ideal gas law of thermodynamics is proposed. It may be...

Cross-country evidence on inflation and income inequality suggests that they are positively correlated. I explore the hypothesis that this correlation is the outcome of a distributional conflict underlying the determination of fiscal policy.

The critical causes of the risk-averse behaviour of banks in funding Small and Medium Enterprises ( SMEs) in Nigeria, monetary policy and financial stability implications of SMEs “Credit Crunch” were evaluated. This was done along the lines of inadequate capital base of the institutions in...

The paper considers a modelin which limited liability causes an asset substitution problem for banks. The problem can at times become so severe that the current regulatory framework – based on a combination of effectively full deposit insurance, minimum capital requirements and prudential...

The black market exchange rate premium is widely used in the empirical literature as an indicator of trade and exchange rate distortions. This paper presents a simple test of the null hypothesis that the black market exchange rate is a reliable indicator of the equilibirum exchange rate. The...

Purchasing power parity (PPP) hypothesis has attracted a lot of attention from academics and policy-makers particularly, during the recent float. Most previous studies used data from the developed world. This study examines the validity of the PPP hypothesis using data during the recent float...

Time series data for Sri Lanka span periods of pervasive trade and exchange restrictions along with periods of liberalized trade. This paper implements a structural econometric model of aggregate imports which incorporates the implications of the shifts in the policy regime. The results...