I examine the argument that a low interest rate policy can lead to "overvalued" private assets or privately created bubbles (private bubbles). Using the standard approach to bubbles, I find that a policy of a low real interest rate may support private bubbles but a policy of a low nominal...

I examine the implementation of the Friedman rule under the assumption that age dependent lump sum transfers are possible and private intermediation is costly. This is done both in an infinitely lived agents model and in an overlapping generations model. I argue that in addition to a zero...

We study price determination and exchange patterns in a monopolistically competitive economy, in which both goods and (fiat) money are perfectly divisible. The decentralized trading environment features 'multiple matches,' in which households consume bundles of commodities and have a preference...

I examine the implementation of the Friedman rule under the assumption that age dependent lump sum transfers are possible and private intermediation is costly. This is done both in an infinitely lived agents model and in an overlapping generations model. I argue that in addition to a zero...

We argue that financial frictions and financial shocks can be an important factor behind the slow recoveries from the three most recent recessions. To illustrate this point, we augment a simple RBC model with a collateral constraint whose tightness is randomly disturbed by a shock that...

This paper examines how and to what extent parameter estimates can be biased in a dynamic stochastic general equilibrium (DSGE) model that omits the zero lower bound (ZLB) constraint on the nominal interest rate. Our Monte Carlo experiments using a standard sticky-price DSGE model show that no...

This paper examines how and to what extent parameter estimates can be biased in a dynamic stochastic general equilibrium (DSGE) model that omits the zero lower bound (ZLB) constraint on the nominal interest rate. Our Monte Carlo experiments using a standard sticky-price DSGE model show that no...

We argue that financial frictions and financial shocks can be an important factor behind the slow recoveries from the three most recent recessions. To illustrate this point, we augment a simple RBC model with a collateral constraint whose tightness is randomly disturbed by a shock that...

Investment of U.S. firms responds asymmetrically to Tobin's Q: Investment of established firms -- `intensive' investment -- reacts negatively to Q whereas investment of new firms -- `extensive' investment -- responds positively and elastically to Q. This asymmetry, we argue, reflects a...

This paper is a non-technical review of research developments in the international real business cycle literature. International business cycle facts are summarize with particular attention to the sources of output variance from the expenditure side of the NIPA and the production side, using a...