In advanced economies, the recent collapse of interest rates to the Zero Lower Bound (ZLB) has triggered a series of research questions on how to navigate the new zero-interest credit environment. Focusing on illegal markets, it is possible to explain why usury still remains widespread after the...

From the New York Times bestselling author of This Time Is Different, “a fascinating and important book” (Ben Bernanke) about the surprising reasons why paper money lies at the heart of many of the world’s most difficult problemsThe world is drowning in cash—and it’s making us poorer...

Some of our judgments are unstable, in the sense that they are an artifact of, or endogenous to, what else we see. This is true of sensory perception: Whether an object counts as blue or purple depends on what other objects surround it. It is also true for ethical judgments: Whether conduct...

Market prices are noisy signals of economic fundamentals. In a two-period model, we show that if the central bank uses market prices as guidance for intervention, large strategic investors (who benefit from high prices) may temporarily depress market prices to induce a market-supportive...