"At each point in time, individuals in an economy are making choices with respect to the acquisition, sale, and/or use of a variety of different goods. Such activity can be summarized by aggregate variables such as an economy's total production of various goods and services, the aggregate level...

The spread between the rates on commercial paper and Treasury bills has received considerable attention in the literature for its role as an indicator of real economic activity. In this paper we empirically examine what happens when the volatility of the spread changes over time. We estimate a...