This paper models the role of assets in facilitating intertemporal exchange: because limited commitment precludes unsecured credit, buyers need to pledge assets as collateral. We develop a general equilibrium model where assets differ in terms of pledgability, and put it to work in applications...

We study economies where houses, in addition to providing utility as shelter, may also facilitate credit transactions, since home equity can be used as collateral. We document there were big increases in home-equity-backed consumption loans coinciding with the start of the house price boom, and...

Inflation and unemployment are central issues in macroeconomics. While much progress has been made on these issues by incorporating frictions using search theory, existing models analyze either unemployment or inflation. We develop a framework to analyze unemployment and inflation together. This...