The financial crisis of 2007 to 2009 can be divided into two distinct phases. The first and more limited phase from August 2007 to August 2008 stemmed from losses in one relatively small segment of the U.S. financial system—namely, subprime residential mortgages. Despite this disruption to...

This paper argues that much of the debate on choosing an exchange rate regime misses the boat. It begins by discussing the standard theory of choice between exchange rate regimes, and then explores the weaknesses in this theory, especially when it is applied to emerging market economies. It then...

Understanding of monetary transmission mechanisms is crucial to answering a broad range of questions. These transmission mechanisms include interest-rate effects, exchange-rate effects, other asset price effects, and the so-called credit channel. This introduction to the symposium provides an...

The Treasury plan for banking reform--Modernizing the Financial System: Recommendations for Safer More Competitive Banks--was released on February 5, 1991 (U.S. Treasury, 1991), and has a stated purpose of promoting a safe, sound, and competitive banking system. It contains recommendations for...

In recent years, a number of industrialized countries have adopted a strategy for monetary policy known as 'inflation targeting.' The authors describe how this approach has been implemented in practice and argue that it is best understood as a broad framework for policy, which allows the central...

Two of the key questions facing policymakers today are how to reduce the risk of global financial instability and how to cope with it when it occurs. This paper starts by defining financial instability and then showing how it harms economic activity. It then uses this framework to describe what...