The small decline in the value of mortgage-related assets relative to the large total losses associated with the financial crisis suggests the presence of financial amplification mechanisms, which allow relatively small shocks to propagate through the financial system. We review the literature...

This paper defines the special characteristics of the financial cycle of Spain during the period 1995-2016 and investigates to what extend the stability of the banking system attenuates or exacerbates the financial cycle. The findings of these two empirical analyses highlight that the financial...

Monetary policy actions (conventional and unconventional) are important events that are expected to affect asset prices, especially during periods of financial turmoil. Although many studies examine their effect on asset prices there is a lack of empirical evidence on their impact on investor...

One important conclusion of Robert Shiller's influential 2015 book, Irrational Exuberance, is that bubbles are random exogenous phenomena that cannot be foreseen and do not depend on macroeconomic policies. This CEPR Policy Insight throws light on the root causes of speculative fevers in asset...

This paper examines whether monetary policy reaction function matters for financial stability. We measure how responsive the Federal Reserve's policy appears to be to imbalances in the equity, housing and credit markets. We find that changes in these policy sensitivities predict the later...

This paper explores financial stability policies for the shadow banking system. I tie policy options to economic mechanisms for shadow banking that have been documented in the literature. I then illustrate the role of shadow bank policies using three examples: agency mortgage real estate...

This paper explores how different credit market and banking regulations affect business fluctuations. Capital adequacy and reserve requirements are analysed for their effect on the risk of severe downturns. We develop an agent-based macroeconomic model in which financial contagion is transmitted...

A number of researchers have recently argued that the growth of the shadow banking system in the years preceding the recent U.S. financial crisis was driven by rising demand for "money-like" claims — short-term, safe instruments (STSI) — from institutional investors and nonfinancial firms....

This paper studies whether and how the central bank should prick asset price bubbles, if the effect of interest rate policy on bubbles can significantly vary across periods. For this purpose, I first construct a financial accelerator model with an agent-based financial market that can...