Simulationary Monetary Policy

Transparency is essential in a market based system, but is not necessarily a requirement for a bank-based system. In a bank based system, banks have long-standing working relationships with the companies seeking financing, and banks have on-going access to information about the firm. In a market based system, creditors and equity-holders require that financial information about companies seeking financing be available, sufficiently detailed and accurate if they are to participate in the market. This information, including audited financial statements, allows participants in the market to make

Following a cut in the discount rate (the rate at which the Federal Reserve lends to depository institutions) in August of that year, the Federal Open Market Committee began to ease monetary policy in September 2007, reducing the target for the federal funds rate by 50 basis points. As indications of economic weakness proliferated, the Committee continued to respond, bringing down its target for the federal funds rate by a cumulative 325 basis points by the spring of 2008. In historical comparison, this policy response stands out as exceptionally rapid and proactive. In taking these actions, we aimed both to cushion the direct effects of the financial turbulence on the economy and to reduce the virulence of the so-called adverse feedback loop, in which economic weakness and financial stress become mutually reinforcing. (Bernanke, “The Crisis and the Policy

Criticisms that the developed world’s central banks are directing wealth to the rich has made financial services employees uneasy. The response from these people argues that with quantitative easing’s distributional effects, it was a necessary to prevent an economic downturn.

Very interesting, I believe we are all experience frictional unemployment and Structural unemployment, since, many IT or pharmaceutical manufacturers companies are outsourcing their jobs to China, Brazil and Russian. Now for the job market, it's even hard for an individual who has experience in the workforce is even having trouble finding a good paying job. For example, when I was let go back in 2011 after, having a well pay salary it's taken me over five years to bounce back to a well-paying job. Times have change and employers also change, therefore, it will take a long time to see our American economy/workforce back on track.

The Federal Reserve went into action in response to the 2008 recession by rapidly reducing interest rates with the hopes of encouraging economic growth. The federal funds target rate was decreased to between zero and .25 percent. The results of the rate changes caused what is called “zero bound”, this reduced the effectiveness of monetary policy with the near non-existence of interest rates.

This is the result of commercial and investment banks lending vast sums for housing purchases and consumer loans to borrowers who are ill-equipped to repay. As consumers begin to default on their loans, banks are realizing the horrendous fact that they have no tangible cash to carry out business procedures. These profound errors in risk management are taking disastrous tolls on the economy.

Recent studies have investigated the impact of the 2007-2009 financial crises on banks’ capital. Berger and Bouwman (2011) emphasised the importance of capital during financial crisis. Their empirical study concludes that banks with solid capital base have some benefits during the crisis than those that are poorly capitalised. Well capitalised banks are more able to withstand the shocks due to liquidity squeeze, and therefore had higher chances of surviving the crisis period. Other benefits accrued to well capitalised banks include increase in their market share and profitability, as customers withdrew their funds from less capitalised to a well-capitalised banks. This conclusion was also reinforced by a recent empirical study conducted Olivier de Bandt et al (2014) on a sample of large French banks over a period of 1993 – 2012. Similarly, Gambacorta and Marques-Ibanez (2011) demonstrate the existence of structural changes during the period of financial crisis. They conclude that banks with weaker core capital positions, greater dependence on market funding and on non-interest sources of income restricted the loan supply more strongly during the crisis period. Using a multi-country panel of banks, Demirgüç-Kunt, Detragiache and Merrouche (2010) find among others results, that during

This has the effect of bringing down interest rates, injecting money into the economy, and thus encouraging borrowing and spending. However, when interest rates are at or near zero and the economy still requires stimulus (a dangerous situation now referred to as a “liquidity trap”) (Blinder 466), central banks must use more extreme methods to resuscitate the economy.

Low interest rates will also alter the behaviour of consumers, businesses and banks. One of which is excessive risk taking as credit is more accessible. Especially after the financial crisis when the economy is in recovery mode, individuals and institutions might take unnecessary gambles in order to recoup what they have lost. This will lead to a high credit bubble where people are unable to repay their loans. However, people might react differently. They might be more prudent with their money thus reducing the demand, which will lead to an economic decline. As human behaviour is not possible to quantify and predict accurately, this presents the government with a dilemma,

In relation to the increase in house’s price, the rise of financial agreements such as mortgage-backed securities (MBS) and collateralized debt obligations (CDO) encouraged investors to invest in the U.S housing market (Krugman, 2009). When housing price declined in the U.S, many financial institutions that borrowed and invested in subprime mortgage reported losses. In addition, the fall of housing price resulted in default and foreclosure and that began to exhaust consumer’s wealth and

The intellectual foundation for cutting central bank policy rates to near zero is based on the traditional view that a lower cost of debt funding will boost aggregate demand via an increase in capital spending as well as higher borrowing by the private sector. The credibility of this viewpoint has, however, been increasingly questioned over time, particularly in the wake of Japan’s prolonged experience with ultra-low interest rates and its ensuing failure to encourage the growth of private sector leverage. Nominal interest rates remain very low in advanced economies, but there is considerable variation on inflation-adjusted measures on a cross-border basis. Real interest rates remain high in Japan due to deflationary expectations, despite the fact that prices have ceased falling. It was the persistence of deflationary psychology and high real interest rates that consequently produced a prolonged corporate balance sheet recession, where the main objective was to pay down debt. Risk-taking endeavours, such as capital spending, were, therefore, off-limits during this period. Despite having much healthier balance sheets, Corporate Japan continues to sit on a mountain of cash, equivalent to 48% of GDP. Meanwhile, US companies also continue to operate with high levels of liquidity. The willingness to use leverage during the current cycle has, however, been somewhat higher in the US vis-à-vis Japan. There is also a

Excessive growth of credit and asset prices can pose serious risks to an economy which has a high degree of financial integration and openness. There can be various reasons for an excessive credit growth such as excessively loose monetary policy, rapidly growing shadow banking system etc. The following essay will describe some key risks associated with an excessive increase in credit growth and asset price and some policy tools which the central bank should adopt to keep these imbalances in check. Finally, the essay will conclude with some policy advice on adoption of these tools and keeping the credit growth in check

According to the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC), the number of bank branches shrinks dramatically after the crisis. A total loss of 7, 689 bank branches occurred from 2009 to 2016. Figure \ref{f: map} shows the gain and loss of bank branches in the U.S. counties. In the local lending markets, banks used to act as the key financial intermediaries. A well developed banking network eases access to credit, which benefits the local economy by eliminating poverty (Burgess and Pande 2005) and activating the labor markets (Bruhn and Love 2014). However, the use of credit score and the development of secondary market reduces the importance of lender-borrower distance in local credit supply markets (Petersen and Rajan 2002; Berger

Following the crisis of Fannie Mae and Freddie Macin Summer 2007, which is the beginning of the financial crisis of 2008, John et al (2012) find that Bank of England kept on providing liquidity to banks and making an exchange between high-quality assets and Treasury Bills through liquidity support operations and financial innovations which were also used by many other central banks. Adopting this approach means that Bank of England can make the financial sectors more easily to receive financing on such circumstance (Joyce

Monetary policy involves manipulating the interest rate charged by the central bank for lending money to the banking system in an economy, which influences greatly a vast number of macroeconomic variables. In the UK, the government set the policy targets, but the Bank of England and the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) are given authority and freedom to set interest rates, which is formally once every month. Contractionary monetary policy may be used to reduce price inflation by increasing the interest rate. Because banks have to pay more to borrow from the central bank they will increase the interest rates they charge their own customers for loans to recover the increased cost. Banks will also raise interest rates to encourage people to save more in bank deposit accounts so they can reduce their own borrowing from the central bank. As interest rates rise, consumers may save more and borrow less to spend on goods and services. Firms may also reduce the amount of money they borrow to invest in new equipment. A