This paper details the construction of an index of export goods prices (the Export Price Index or "EPI") for a panel of 196 metropolitan areas from 1977 to 1992. The "EPI" is an indicator of external demand shocks to the city economy which does not suffer from the causal ambiguity of the...

Adjustable-rate and hybrid loans have been a larger component of subprime mortgage lending in the mortgage market than prime lending. The typical adjustable-rate loan in subprime is a hybrid of fixed and adjustable characteristics in which the first 2 years are fixed and the remaining 28 years...