By analysing a newly compiled database of exchange rates, this paper finds that Central European financial integration advanced in a cyclical fashion over the fifteenth century. The cycles were associated with changes in the money supply. Long-distance financial integration progressed in...

[...]Our first suggestion is to reduce the fragmentation oftrading in STRIPS by assigning the same CUSIP number to allSTRIPS maturing on a common date—thus making thoseSTRIPS fungible with each other. In addition to enhancing theliquidity of the STRIPS market, this action would ensure...

[...]Importantly, these studies rely entirely on ex post analysis.In other words, the studies ask, Given the actual inflationoutcome, did the costs of TIPS issuances exceed the costs ofnominal Treasury issuances of similar durations? Thisapproach depends on the actual inflation outcome, which...

[...]We begin by explaining the three most commoncategories of value-at-risk models—equally weighted movingaverage approaches, exponentially weighted movingaverage approaches, and historical simulation approaches.Although within these three categories many differentapproaches exist, for the...

[...]This article has two objectives: to examine theforces responsible for the declining role of traditionalbanking in the United States as well as in other countries,and to explore the implications of this decline and banks’responses to it for financial stability and regulatory policy.A key...

We consider a general equilibrium model with frictions in credit markets used by households. Inour economy, houses provide housing services to consumers and serve as collateral to lower borrowingcost.We show that this amplifies and propagates the effect of monetary policy shocks on...

After liberalizing international transactions of financial assets, many countries experiencelarge swings in asset prices, capital flows, and aggregate production. This paper studies howthe adjustment to capital account liberalization depends upon the degree of development of adomestic financial...

Traditional theories of the origins of the welfare state have emphasized the financial weakness of Britain’s largest provider of mutual insurance in the late 19th century, the friendly societies. These theories share common implications with contemporary theories of institutional change...