"This paper summarizes recent developments in the theory and practice of monetary policy in a closed economy and explains what these developments mean for U.S. dollar policy. There is no conflict between what is appropriate U.S. monetary policy at home or abroad because the dollar is the world's...

In U.S. data 1981–2012, unsecured firm credit moves procyclically and tends to lead GDP, while secured firm credit is acyclical; similarly, shocks to unsecured firm credit explain a far larger fraction of output fluctuations than shocks to secured credit. In this paper we develop a tractable...

Mortgage loans are a striking example of a persistent nominal rigidity. As a result, under incomplete markets, monetary policy affects decisions through the cost of new mortgage borrowing and the value of payments on outstanding debt. Observed debt levels and payment to income ratios suggest the...