During Alan Greenspan’s years at the helm of the Federal Reserve System, the global economy has undergone significant structural change and withstood a variety of financial and economic shocks. In addition to helping steer the global economy through such challenges, Chairman Greenspan has been...

In many respects, the 1980s appear to be the worst decade in banking since the Great Depression, while the 1990s could be rated as the best. Over 1,100 commercial banks failed or needed FDIC assistance during the 1980s, and significant parts of the thrift industry became insolvent and had to be...

Over the past twenty years the world's major central banks have been largely successful at bringing inflation under control. While it is premature to suggest that inflation is no longer an issue of great concern, it is quite conceivable that the next battles facing central bankers will lie on a...

In a presentation at the Federal Reserve Banks of Kansas City's 2000 symposium, "Global Economic Integration: Opportunities and Challenges," Governor Brash of the Reserve Bank of New Zealand highlighted four issues related to global economic integration that affect central banks. First,...

The merger boom in the U.S. banking industry has caused the number of banking organizations in the nation to fall by nearly a third since 1990. Most of this contraction has involved small community banks. ; A common perception is that most of these small banks are being absorbed by large banks....

Forecasts of future economic developments play an important role for the monetary policy decisions of central banks. For example, forecasts of goal variables can help central banks achieve their goals and make them more accountable to the public. There are two primary explanations for the...

This article describes financial account aggregation and explores potential financial risks to the consumer and account holding financial institutions from aggregation. The current state of the law and contractual relationships relevant to such risks are analyzed. These risks include,...

Even in a world with rational expectations, it has been well established theoretically that if the central bank possesses information superior to that available to the public, there is room for effective and socially beneficial countercyclical monetary policy. This paper tests whether...