Recent developments in monetary policy demand new analytical tools, in particular an analysis of central banks' balance sheets. During the sub-prime crisis the balance sheet of the Federal Reserve System deteriorated substantially. In this article we analyse the process of this deterioration in...

Attention has recently been drawn to compositional changes in the Federal Reserve System's asset holdings and in particular the deterioration of the balance sheet of the Fed in the face of the current crisis. However, an analysis of the balance sheet policies of the Eurosystem is still missing....