Economics Commons^™

Monetary Expansion And Bank Credit: A Lack Of Spark, Lucjan T. Orlowski

WCBT Faculty Publications

This paper aims to evaluate the effects of the Federal Reserve monetary expansion over thepast 15 years on the credit channel of monetary policy transmission. To do so, we analyze the allocation of the Fed vast liquidity injections by the U.S. banks. The underlying hypothesis is that the considerable monetary expansion neutralized the bank credit expansion as banks channeled borrowed liquidity into other assets.

The monetary expansion was propelled by the financial crisis of 2007–2008. The crisis led to the rapid deterioration of asset performance and liquidity of the banking system. Among the key factors contributing to the crisis was …