Active interest rate policy is frequently recommended based on its merits in reducing macroeconomic volatility and being a simple and transparent policy device. In a standard New Keynesian model, we show that an even simpler policy, namely an interest rate peg, can be welfare enhancing: The...

This paper examines how financial constraints affect redistribution via monetary policy. We explore a novel mechanism of monetary non-neutrality, which is based on debt limits imposed in nominal terms. Specifically, when debt is constrained by current income, monetary policy can alter the real...

This paper examines financial regulation and distortionary taxes in a heterogeneous-agents economy with pecuniary externalities induced by a collateral constraint. Limiting the loan-to-value ratio benefits only few unconstrained borrowers and reduces ex-ante social welfare. A Pigouvianstyle...

The COVID-19 pandemic forced much of the world to adapt suddenly to severe restrictions. In this study, we attempt to quantify the impact of the pandemic on student performance in higher education. To collect data on important covariates, we conducted a survey among first-year students of...

This paper examines credit market policies under pecuniary externalities induced by collateral constraints. Pigouvian taxes/subsidies on debt or savings are derived as Ramsey-optimal policies. Firstly, prudential (ex-ante) debt taxes can restore constrained efficiency. Secondly, when policies...

We examine how borrowing constraints affect monetary transmission and the trade-off of a welfare maximizing central bank. We develop a sticky price model where money serves as the means of payment and ex-ante identical agents borrow/lend among each other. The credit market is distorted as...

This paper questions unconventional fiscal policy effects when the monetary policy rate is at the zero lower bound. We provide evidence for the US that the spread between the policy rate and the US-LIBOR, which is more relevant for private sector transactions, increases with government...

Evidence from vector autoregressions indicates that the impact of interest rate shocks on macroeconomic aggregates can substantially be affected by the so-called cost channel of monetary transmission. In this paper we apply a structural approach to examine the relevance of the cost channel for...

This paper presents a business cycle analysis of monetary policy shocks measured by disturbances to open market operations, i.e. the ratio of open market papers to non-borrowed reserves. We find empirical evidence for the usefulness of this policy measure, as it predicts significant declines in...

We provide evidence that liquidity premia on assets that are more relevant for private agents' intertemporal choices than near-money assets increase in response to expansionary forward guidance announcements. We introduce a structural specification of liquidity premia based on assets'...