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Working Paper No. 544
Inflation Targeting in Brazil
The monetary policy regime of inflation targeting (IT) has been adopted by a significant number of emerging economies. While the focus of this paper is on Brazil, which began inflation targeting in 1999, the authors also examine the experience of other countries, both for comparative purposes and for evidence of the extent of this “new” […] -
Press Release
Federal Government in Better Position Than Federal Reserve to Support Faltering Economy, Levy Scholar Says
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Working Paper No. 543
Macroeconomics Meets Hyman P. Minsky
Expanding on an approach developed by financial economist Hyman Minsky, the authors present an alternative to the standard “efficient markets hypothesis”—the relevance of which Minsky vehemently denied. Minsky recognized that, in a modern capitalist economy with complex, expensive, and long-lived assets, the method used to finance asset positions is of critical importance, both for theory […] -
Public Policy Brief No. 95
Shaky Foundations: Policy Lessons from America’s Historic Housing Crash
A bursting asset bubble inevitably requires central bank action, usually when it is already too late and with adverse spillover effects. In this sense, the Federal Reserve and other central banks already target asset prices; yet, by taking aim at them only on the way down—as in the current housing and credit crisis—the "Big Banks" […] -
Summary No. 3
Summary Fall 2008
This latest issue of the Summary includes an overview of the Institute’s annual Minsky conference, which focused on the current economic crisis in the United States, its effects on the world economy, and possible solutions. Also featured is a new Strategic Analysis that challenges the notion that a stimulus package larger than the one approved […] -
Policy Notes
What’s a Central Bank to Do?
As homeowner equity continues to disappear, there is a growing consensus that losses on all mortgages will exceed $1 trillion, with financial losses spreading far beyond real estate. Mortgage rates are spiking, and, more generally, interest rate spreads remain wide, as financial players shun private debt in the rush to safe Treasury securities. Labor markets […] -
Policy Notes No. 3
What’s a Central Bank to Do?
As homeowner equity continues to disappear, there is a growing consensus that losses on all mortgages will exceed $1 trillion, with financial losses spreading far beyond real estate. Mortgage rates are spiking and, more generally, interest rate spreads remain wide, as financial players shun private debt in the rush to safe Treasury securities. Labor markets […] -
Public Policy Brief Highlight No. 95
Shaky Foundations
Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson’s latest plan for tackling the housing-centered credit crisis involves giving the Federal Reserve vast new authority to regulate investment banks, not just depository institutions. However, news analyst Pedro Nicolaci da Costa argues that attitude changes among regulators will be even more important than shifts in mandate in ensuring that regulators like […] -
Working Paper No. 542
Keynes’s Approach to Full Employment
This paper argues that John Maynard Keynes had a targeted (as contrasted with aggregate) demand approach to full employment. Modern policies, which aim to “close the demand gap,” are inconsistent with the Keynesian approach on both theoretical and methodological grounds. Aggregate demand tends to increase inflation and erode income distribution near full employment, which is […] -
Working Paper No. 541
The Unpaid Care Work–Paid Work Connection
In order to provide a coherent perspective of gender differences in the world of work, the many intersections of paid and unpaid work must be brought to light. It is well documented that gender-based wage differentials and occupational segregation continue to characterize the division of labor among men and women in paid work; yet unpaid […] -
Working Paper No. 540
The Effects of International Trade on Gender Inequality
The process of economic globalization has winners and losers. Iran’s carpet industry provides a good illustration of the adverse side of this process. As the production costs of its rivals have fallen, surging international trade has reduced the market share of Iran’s labor-intensive products, especially Persian carpets. This paper reports the findings of an informal […] -
Report No. 3
Report July 2008
This issue of the Report highlights the Institute’s annual Minsky conference, which this year focused on credit, markets, and the real economy, and the fiscal policies needed to counter recession. A new Strategic Analysis argues in favor of a fiscal stimulus much larger than the $150 million currently allocated, and that it should apply over […]