Macroeconomics Commons^™

Recessionary Woes: Examining Economic Policies And Their Impact On Student Loan Debt And Housing Stability In The United States, Connor Recck

Senior Theses and Projects

Recessionary periods can seldom be avoided, but our modern public infrastructure has designed mechanisms to respond to these downturns. Economic policy has rapidly changed over the last 50 years, and the types of tools policymakers use have evolved with it. When looking at the Great Recession (2007-2009) and the COVID-19 recession (2020), a federal response structure was vital for the health of the macroeconomy. These recessionary periods serve as case studies for a review of economic policymaking activity in the United States since 2000. To examine the efficacy of the federal government’s fiscal and monetary infrastructure, policies focused on supporting …

A Comparative Analysis Of 14 Central Banks’ Monetary Responses Before And After The Covid-19 Pandemic In Relation To Central Bank Independence, Emelle Stottele

CMC Senior Theses

In theory, during periods of economic downturn, economic policy should follow a countercyclical pattern. In this light, following the recent COVID-19 pandemic, monetary policy is expected to be contractionary. However, prior research shows that the cyclical nature of monetary policy can vary significantly across different countries. Research also suggests that these monetary responses differ based on the level of independence a central bank has for decision-making from government influence. This thesis studies the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on the monetary responses across a panel of 14 countries from January 2018 to August 2022, capturing the impacts of the pandemic. …

An Anomaly In Unemployment Rates: A Comparative Analysis Of Federal Governments’ Responses To The Covid-19 Pandemic, Trent Arney

Economics Undergraduate Honors Theses

During the COVID-19 pandemic, the United Kingdom experienced extremely low unemployment rates compared to similarly developed nations. As a result of the ensuing national recessions, the United States’ and Canada’s Phillip’s Curves shifted, while the United Kingdom’s remained steady. Each of these three nations pursued relatively similar monetary and fiscal policies; however, the United Kingdom’s government-supported wage policy had different requirements and specifications than that of the United States’ and Canada’s. The United Kingdom’s government-supported wage policy prioritized saving jobs while the United States’ and Canada’s policies prioritized saving firms, leading to the disparity in national unemployment rates observed during …

The Dynamics Of Monthly Changes In Us Swap Yields: A Keynesian Perspective, Tanweer Akram, Khawaja Mamun

WCBT Working Papers

John Maynard Keynes (1930) asserted that the central bank sways the long-term interest rate through the influence of its policy rate on the short-term interest rate. Recent empirical research shows that Keynes's conjecture holds for long-term Treasury yields in the United States. This paper investigates whether Keynes's conjecture also holds for the monthly changes in US long-term swap yields by econometrically modeling its dynamics using an autoregressive distributed lag (ARDL) approach. The econometric modeling reveals that there is statistically significant effect on the monthly changes in the Treasury bill rate on the monthly changes in swap yields of different maturity …

Essays On Housing And Macroeconomics, Pablo Lara Hinojos

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Chapter 1: House Prices and Aggregate Markups: A VAR Approach

Based on the empirical results of Stroebel and Vavra (2019), who find that a local increase in house prices translates into higher local retail markups and prices, I investigate whether this relationship holds at the aggregate level. I first construct a quarterly aggregate markup series and find that house prices and aggregate markups have a positive relationship. This result emerges from a Vector Autoregression (VAR) system that includes the nominal interest rate, the inflation rate, aggregate house prices, aggregate markups, and real output. I use the Impulse Response Functions (IRFs) …

Embedding Rational Expectations In A Structural Var: Internal And External Instruments For Set Identification, Zhengyang Chen, Victor Valcarcel

Economics Faculty Working Papers

We propose a novel approach that embeds Rational Expectations (RE) into a low-dimensional structural vector autoregression (SVAR). We establish an instrumental variable procedure internal to the SVAR founded on a purely theoretical framework, which does not rely on any mapping strategy to a reduced form. Alternatively, a separate strategy considers data external to the SVAR to aid in the identification of structural shocks on a purely empirical basis. We report clouds of responses from a RE-consistent theoretical model as well as regions of plausible responses from the empirical approach. We conclude that a Taylor Rule characterization of monetary policy shocks …

Financial Inclusion And Monetary Policy - Investigating The Relationship Between Financial Inclusion And Monetary Policy: The Case Of Egypt, Salma Maher

Theses and Dissertations

In the past decade, financial inclusion has become an issue of increasing importance to developing nations. This is due to its perceived effects on poverty alleviation, sustainable growth and enhancing monetary policy effectiveness. Unfortunately, there is little empirical research on the effects of financial inclusion. The thesis hopes to contribute to the literature by inspecting the relationship between financial utilization indices and monetary policy in Egypt. The thesis utilizes quarterly data on outstanding deposits and loans from 2004 to 2020 as well as a VAR model – supplemented with an ARDL model – to test the aforementioned relationship. The thesis …

Essays In Monetary And Macroprudential Policies, Mikheil Dvalishvili

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Chapter 1 Using a medium scale general equilibrium New Keynesian business cycle model with macroprudential policy and news shocks I study the effectiveness of various combinations of the monetary and macroprudential policies. I incorporate defaults both in the banking sector and households. The results show that out of the policy strategies considered the standard Taylor rule combined with the LTV requirement that reacts countercyclically to the deviation of house prices from the steady state yields higher welfare as compared with all the other strategies considered. Additionally, the standard Taylor rule combined with either of the countercyclical LTV requirements mitigates the …

Modeling Post-Crisis Monetary Policy, James Dean

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports

Chapter 1, co-authored with Scott Schuh, examines whether the Taylor Rule still adequately captures monetary policy despite unconventional monetary policies (UMP) and the policy rate near zero in 2009-2015. We find structural breaks at 2007:Q3 in macro models with a shadow funds rate. Taylor Rule coefficients shift back toward pre-1984 estimates and breaks occurred in non-policy parameters. Results are similar with the effective funds rate, so either breaks are not due to UMP or the shadow rate is an insufficient specification of UMP. Chapter 2 incorporates the term structure and the Fed’s average inflation targeting (AIT) framework into the model …

Essays On Private Information And Monetary Policy, Zijian Wang

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

In our economy, many interactions between individuals involve one party possessing more or better information than the other party (i.e., private information). For example, in asset markets, sellers often have better knowledge about the quality of the assets than buyers. Private information also exists when governments collect taxes, because taxpayers typically have more information about their income compared to the government. In my thesis, I explore the implications of private information in three novel contexts.

In Chapter 2, I study the implications of tax evasion for the design of central bank digital currency, which is an emerging payment instrument. I …

The Federal Funds Rate Effect On Subprime Mortgage Crisis Management: An Ardl Approach, Mostafa Aboelsoud, Anas Alqudah, Dimitrios Paparas, Ahmed Bani-Mustafa

Economics

Purpose: This research empirically investigated the effectiveness of the interest rate policy of the Federal Reserve (Fed) on managing the subprime mortgage crisis.

Design/methodology/approach: The study employed the autoregressive distributed lag model (ARDL) to analyze the stability of the Fed’s monetary policy, thereby providing an alternative analysis tool.

Findings: Correlation analysis results showed a strong positive and statistically significant relationship between Fed funds rate and the labor market, a strong negative and statistically significant relationship between Fed funds rate and the housing market, and a strong negative and statistically significant relationship between Fed funds rate and price stability. In contrast, …

Friedrich Hayek On Monetary And Banking Systems Reforms, Adrian Ravier

Journal of New Finance

Throughout his life, Friedrich Hayek worked towards prescribing a monetary policy under which the world economy would again enjoy the stability it had known under the classical international gold standard system. This paper presents three banking and monetary systems that were pivotal in the history of banking and closely scrutinized by Hayek. The paper outlines those systems, summarizes Hayek’s comments on each and then discusses the recent literature on the subject in the light of Hayek’s influence.

Fiscal And Monetary Policies And Stock Market, Ilhami Gunduz

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

This dissertation consists of three chapters.

The first chapter analyzes the stock market transmission channel of the monetary policy of the Turkish economy not only at the aggregate but also at the sectoral level in a structural vector autoregression (SVAR) framework. I adopt alternative variables as a policy instrument. When the spread is used as a policy instrument, I find that contractionary monetary policy has a significant negative effect on both output and the price level and it appreciates the Turkish Lira. In addition, tight monetary policy reduces both aggregate and sectoral market returns. Hence, the results suggest that policymakers …

Stock Market Transmission Channel Of Monetary Policy: Empirical Evidence From Turkey, Ilhami Gunduz

Publications and Research

Monetary policy is one of the instruments that policymakers use to provide both sustainable economic growth and price stability. In this study, I analyze the stock market transmission channel of the monetary policy of the Turkish economy not only at the aggregate but also at the sectoral level in a structural vector autoregression (SVAR) framework. I adopt alternative variables as a policy instrument. When the spread is used as a policy instrument, I find that contractionary monetary policy has a significant negative effect on both output and the price level, and it appreciates the Turkish Lira. Besides, the tight monetary …

Monetary Policy And Income Inequality In The United States And Spain, Brooke Whetstone

Honors Program Projects

Background Contractionary monetary policy has long term effects on inequality (Feldkircher & Kakamu, 2018). However, other forms of monetary policy do not have a clear effect on income inequality. Central banks defend the position that other factors are the driving forces behind income inequality (Powell, 2018).
Methodology This investigation utilized ANOVA Regression analysis to determine if income inequality, as measured by wage growth by sector, is related to interest rates in the United States and Spain. If applicable, slopes of the regression lines for each sector were compared to see if they were significantly different, in a statistical sense.

Results …

Incorporating Macroprudential Financial Regulation Into Monetary Policy, Aaron Klein

Journal of Financial Crises

This paper proposes two insights into financial regulation and monetary policy. The first enhances understanding the relationship between them, building on the automobile metaphor that describes monetary policy: when to accelerate or brake for curves miles ahead. Enhancing the metaphor, financial markets are the transmission. In a financial crisis, markets cease to function, equivalent to a transmission shifting into neutral. This explains both monetary policy’s diminished effectiveness in stimulating the economy and why the financial crisis shock to real economic output greatly exceeded central bank forecasts.

The second insight is that both excess leverage and fundamental mispricing of asset values …

European Central Bank Tools And Policy Actions A: Open Market Operations, Collateral Expansion And Standing Facilities, Chase P. Ross, Rosalind Z. Wiggins, Andrew Metrick

Journal of Financial Crises

Beginning in August 2007, the European Central Bank (ECB) responded to market turmoil with a variety of standard and non-standard monetary policy tools. This case discusses the operational framework of the ECB’s open market operation tools and standing facilities before and during the financial crisis. Specifically, this case describes the ECB’s use of its main refinancing and longer-term refinancing operations, the expansion of collateral eligible for use in Eurosystem credit operations, and the ECB’s standing facilities, including its marginal lending and deposit facilities.

The Early Phases Of The Financial Crisis: Reflections On The Lender Of Last Resort, Timothy F. Geithner

Journal of Financial Crises

This essay discusses the powers and limitations of the Federal Reserve’s role as Lender of Last Resort and how it deployed those powers during the financial crisis of 2007-2009. It considers the Fed’s authorities and the frameworks that it relied on in utilizing its powers to calm markets in turmoil and to assist specific financial institutions.

Assessing The Effectiveness Of The Federal Reserve’S Quantitative Easing Policy In Lowering Long-Term Interest Rates, Lee Philip Perry

Senior Projects Spring 2018

This project looks at the effectiveness of Quantitative Easing on lowering long-term interest rates. To come up with an answer I look through three separate channels in which QE works to lower long-term rates: the speculation channel, inflations expectation channel, and portfolio balance channel. In examining these channels and their respective effects, I combine relative channel and general economic theory with data relative to each channel such as long-term yields, inflation expectation data, public holdings of federal debt, and much more in order to understand whether QE was at the forefront of the reduction in yields. Through these channels, we …

Why The World Needs A Reserve Asset With A Hard Anchor, Warren Coats, Dongsheng Di, Yuxuan Zhao

Warren Coats

From the 1970s, the global currency system has two features: the use of one or a few sovereign currencies as the global reserve asset and the floating exchange rate regime between major currencies.This paper points out that the costs of the dollar’s use as an international reserve currency exceed the benefits for both the US and the rest of the world. These costs include the exporting of American manufacturing as a byproduct of its current account deficit needed to supply its currency to the rest of the world. In addition to the detriment to trade from unpredictable exchange rate fluctuations, …

Unofficial Dollarisation And Monetary Policy In Nigeria, Y. Adamu

Economic and Financial Review

This paper examined the impact of dollarisation on monetary policy in Nigeria, using monthly data spanning 2002 to 2016. The paper adopted the conventional IMF proxy for dollarisation and traced its reactions to changing monetary policy stance. Using the vector autoregression (VAR) model and interbank rate as an indicator of monetary policy stance, the results showed that the size of dollarisation could influence the outcome of monetary policy, though the impact was small. This was evident from the output equations, that inflation did not respond in the first month and responded negatively in the second month. However, from the third …

Interest Rate Dynamics And Real Output Behaviour In Nigeria: A Simulation Analysis, S. Rapu, G. Sanni, D. Penzin, N. Nkang, P. Golit, H. Okafor, E. Ibi

Economic and Financial Review

The declining output growth observed from the second quarter of 2014, which led to calls for a more expansionary monetary policy despite rising inflationary pressure, necessitated a reassessment of the impact of interest rate on real output growth in Nigeria. Using a Bayesian Vector Autoregressive (BVAR) model and quarterly data from 2000:Q4 to 2015:Q3, the effect of monetary policy transmission (interest rate dynamics) on real output performance was estimated. Although results of the simulation analysis were somewhat mixed, those of the impulse response functions indicated that positive shocks to monetary policy rate (MPR) produced a negative and small impact on …

Coordination Of Monetary And Fiscal Policies: The Case Of Egypt, Sahar M. Abdel-Haleim

Business Administration

Coordination is defined as the necessary arrangements that assure that the decisions taken by monetary and fiscal authorities are not contradictory. The need for effective coordination of policies becomes pressing with the increasing independence of both authorities to implement their objectives. The purpose of the paper is to investigate the extent of coordination between monetary and fiscal policies in Egypt over the period (1974-2015). Quantifying the extent of coordination depends on the appropriate policy mix that responds effectively to different shocks. The results confirm that coordination of policies was absent or weak during most of the period under study, while …

Lessons From The U.S. Great Depression And The German Hyperinflation, Lester G. Telser

Lester G Telser

Abstract. The German hyperinflation and the U.S. Great Depression have in common the effects of an insufficient amount of useful media of exchange. In Germany too much currency was printed and in the U.S. widespread bank failures undermined confidence in all demand deposits so all bank checks were regarded suspiciously. The effects were the same in both countries, very high rates of unemployment coupled with collapse of their economies. The German Hyperinflation gives evidence against the Phillips Curve. JEL E65 Study of Particular Policy Episodes

A Closer Look At The Impact Of Quantitative Easing On The Capital Markets: Garch Analysis Of The Exchange Traded Funds Market, Nicholas R. Duafala

Undergraduate Economic Review

This paper analyzes the effects of quantitative easing (QE) on the capital markets by modeling exchange traded funds (ETFs) returns using a generalized autoregressive conditional heteroskedasticity (GARCH) methodology. The results show that the 10-Year Treasury yields are significant in the returns of some sectors of the economy more so than others, and the Federal Funds Futures trading volume is significant in all ETFs return volatility. The implications of these results not only provide information about the reaction of the ETF market and QE, but also provide insight for developing investment strategies.

Government Versus Market Regulation: The Nanny State Or The Liberal State, Warren Coats

Warren Coats

The nanny state world is characterized by a growing list of regulations and government supervision of business in an effort to fix the most recently observed problems. The price of such protection is the increased cost of doing business, which tends to crowd out small businesses and favor large ones, which can more easily absorb the compliance costs. The benefit is often difficult to detect. Has Dodd-Frank really made it feasible to fail our largest banks (now larger than they were just before the Great Recession), i.e. are they no longer too big to fail?

The self-governing, liberal state—"Liberalism unrelinquished"—is …

A Simple Treatment Of The Liquidity Trap For Intermediate Macroeconomics Courses, Sebastien Buttet, Udayan Roy

Publications and Research

Several leading undergraduate intermediate macroeconomics textbooks now include a simple reduced-form New Keynesian model of short-run dynamics (alongside the IS-LM model). Unfortunately, there is no accompanying description of how the zero lower bound on nominal interest rates affects the model. In this article, the authors show how the aforementioned model can easily be modified to teach undergraduate students about the significance of the zero lower bound for economic performance and policy. This acquires additional significance because economies such as the United States and Japan have been close to the zero lower bound since 2008 and 1995, respectively. The authors show …

Transition To Full-Fledged Inflation Targeting: A Proposed Programme For Implementation By The Central Bank Of Nigeria, Michael O. Ojo

CBN Occasional Papers

This paper attempts to provide an input into addressing these issues, especially as regards resolving the technical, administrative and practical problems for a transition to inflation targeting as a framework for monetary policy in Nigeria. Specifically, the main purpose of this paper is to outline proposals that would permit the CBN transit successfully to full-fledged inflation targeting (FFIT) for its monetary policy operations. Following the introduction (Section 1), the paper is organized as follows: Section 2 examines the conceptual framework, focusing on the essential elements and modalities of different monetary policy frameworks. Section 3 contains an overview of the experiences …

An Analysis Of The Monetary Policy Transmission Mechanism And The Real Economy In Nigeria, Eddy C. Ndekwu

CBN Occasional Papers

The study is an empirical analysis which seeks to explain the monetary policy transmission mechanism to the real economy in Nigeria. It examines the process by which the interest rate policy of the Central Bank of Nigeria actually affects the structure of interest rates, credit, aggregate demand and output production and, hence, changes in inflation rate. In the analysis, we review the paradigm of the channels of monetary policy transmission mechanism by studying over two and-half dozen cases of empirical studies in the economic literature. By applying vector auto-regression (VAR) with dynamic logarithmic form and the ordinary least squares (OLS) …

Macro-Prudential Regulation And Effective Monetary Policy, Moses K. Tule

Economic and Financial Review

This paper makes a bold attempt to examine some of the issues within the narrow context of monetary policy. Following the introduction, Section 2 examines some conceptual issues including the institutional framework for monetary and macro-prudential policy. Section 3 discusses the objectives and instruments of monetary and macro-prudential policy including indicators of systemic risk, while Section 4 examines at the interaction of macro-prudential with monetary policy and how this could be enhanced. In Section 5, the experiences of other countries with macro-prudential regulation are presented and lessons drawn for Nigeria. Section 6 concludes the paper and provides insights for an …