Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke has claimed that the Fed's bank bailouts during the 2008 financial crisis were consistent with Walter Bagehot's rules for a lender of last resort. This paper demonstrates Bernanke's claims to be mistaken. First, we outline Bagehot's doctrine for a classical...

This paper analyzes banks' capital and risk-based capital (RBC) ratios as predictors of risk. Using quarterly data on U.S. bank holding companies (BHCs) from 1997 through 2010, we regress the capital and RBC ratios against six balance-sheet and market-based indicators of risk. Although both the...

The Federal Reserve regulates U.S. commercial banks using a system of risk-based capital (RBC) regulations based on the Basel Accords. Unfortunately, the Fed's misrating of several assets such as mortgage-backed securities encouraged the build-up of these assets in the banking system and was a...

This paper considers potential alternatives to the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) system of deposit insurance in the United States. We review the international and historical literature on deposit insurance which finds higher government involvement in the deposit insurance system...

Most people believe the benefits of deposit insurance provided by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) clearly exceed the costs. However, a growing literature suggests the benefits of FDIC insurance are overstated while the costs are understated. We add to this literature by...

Privately issued money can benefit consumers in many ways, particularly in the areas of value stability and product variety. Decentralized currency production can benefit consumers by reducing inflation and increasing economic stability. Unlike a central bank, competing private banks must...

This paper analyzes the relationship between bank lending and the Federal Reserve's policy of paying interest on excess reserves (IOER). We argue that the Fed's IOER policy deviates from the standard interest-rate floor framework in ways that influence banks' incentives to hold loans and...

Review of Stephanie Kelton, The Deficit Myth: Modern Monetary Theory and the Birth of the People's Economy.The ideas of Modern Monetary Theory (MMT) have gained popularity in certain political circles. While claiming to overturn well-known economic principles, MMT has never been formally laid...