This paper demonstrates how a central bank might operationalize an expanded role inclusive of managing risks from environmental pollution. The analysis introduces the green interest rate (rg) which depends on temporal changes in the pollution intensity of output. This policy instrument...

Carbon intensity from fossil fuel use in the United States economy peaked in 1917. World War I ended, and the Spanish Flu pandemic broke out one year later in 1918. This paper contends that these events, coupled with associated turmoil in the domestic coal industry, were largely responsible for...