This study identifies empirically the impact of various macroeconomic factors on the default risk premium. Using monthly data for the period 1970-2010 for the U.S., our estimations indicate that the monetary policy aggregates, risk-free interest rate, term structure of interest rates, inflation,...

Global current account imbalances have been at the forefront of policy debates over the past few years. Many observers have recently singled them out as a key factor contributing to the global financial crisis. Current account surpluses in several emerging market economies are said to have...

This summary policy analysis provides a simple diagnosis of the sub-prime lending debacle and consequent systemic financial crisis: The Fed fueled an asset bubble, housing policy steered it to housing, and the extreme leverage required to fund political housing policy magnified losses instead of...

Many commentators have argued that if the Federal Reserve had followed a stricter monetary policy earlier this decade when the housing bubble was forming, and if Congress had not deregulated banking but had imposed tighter financial standards, the housing boom and bust - and the subsequent...

Aligning investments to the climate and sustainability targets requires the introduction of stable climate-aligned policies. In this regard, a global Carbon Tax (CT) and a revision of the microprudential banking framework via a Green Supporting Factor (GSF) have been advocated. However, our...

Global risk-off shocks can be highly destabilizing for financial markets and, absent an adequate policy response, may trigger severe recessions. Policy responses were more complex for developed economies with very low interest rates after the Global Financial Crisis (GFC). We document, however,...

Global risk-off shocks can be highly destabilising for financial markets and, absent an adequate policy response, may trigger severe recessions. In Caballero and Kamber (2019), we document that the unconventional policies adopted by the main central banks were effective in containing asset price...

Using a large contract-level, high frequency database of bank loan commitments from June 2007 to May 2009, we fi nd that fi rms' takedown behavior regarding credit lines is very di erent depending on the fi rms' creditworthiness. Usage patterns of rms with poor credit quality are more closely...

We develop a tractable rational bubbles model with financial frictions, downward nominal wage rigidity, and the zero lower bound. The interaction of financial frictions and nominal rigidities leads to a "bubbly pecuniary externality," where competitive speculation in risky bubbly assets can...

This essay argues that the Achilles heel of the international monetary and financial system is that it amplifies the "excess financial elasticity" of domestic policy regimes, ie it exacerbates their inability to prevent the build-up of financial imbalances, or outsize financial cycles, that lead...