Recent legislation and court settlements in the United States allow merchants to use price discounts to steer customers to pay with means of payment that are less costly to merchants. This paper suggests one method of calculating merchants’ change in profit associated with giving price...

The effect of wealth on consumption is an issue of longstanding interest to economists. Analysts believe that fluctuations in household wealth have driven major swings in economic activity. This paper considers so-called wealth effects—the impact of changes in wealth on household consumption...

This paper uses panel data through 2011 to examine evidence of shifts in household balance sheet behavior following the financial crisis and Great Recession. The paper considers evidence of balance sheet repair through debt repayment as well as changes in the composition of households’ balance...

In a recent set of influential papers, researchers have argued that residential mortgage foreclosures reduce the sale prices of nearby properties. We revisit this issue using a more robust identification strategy combined with new data that contain information on the location of properties...

During the last few decades, labor markets in advanced economies have become “polarized” as relative labor demand grows for high- and low-skill workers while it declines for middle-skill workers. This paper explores how polarization has interacted with the U.S. business cycle since the late...

This paper investigates the effects of credit scores on consumer payment behavior, especially on debit and credit card use. Anecdotally, a negative relationship between debit card use and credit score has been reported; however, it is not clear whether that relationship is related to other...

Opening remarks by Eric S. Rosengren, President and Chief Executive Officer, Federal Reserve Bank of Boston, at the conference, “Understanding the Housing Collapse: What is to Blame and What Can Be Done?”, co-sponsored by the Harvard Kennedy School's Rappaport Institute for Greater Boston,...

Remarks by Eric S. Rosengren, President and Chief Executive Officer, Federal Reserve Bank of Boston, at the U. S. Monetary Policy Forum, New York, New York, February 22, 2013.

Testimony by Eric S. Rosengren, President and Chief Executive Officer, Federal Reserve Bank of Boston, at the Field Hearing of the Committee on Financial Services of the U.S. House of Representatives, “Seeking Solutions – Finding Credit for Small and Mid-Size Businesses in Massachusetts”,...

Remarks by Eric S. Rosengren, President and Chief Executive Officer, Federal Reserve Bank of Boston, at “Building a Financial Structure for a More Stable and Equitable Economy,” the 22nd Annual Hyman P. Minsky Conference on the State of the U.S. and World Economies, The Levy Economics...