Filter by
4186 results found
-
Public Policy Brief No. 5The Limits of Prudential Supervision
According to Bernard Shull, although the recent round of banking legislation—most notably the Financial Institutions Reform, Recovery, and Enforcement Act (FIRREA) and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation Improvement Act (FDICIA)—did take steps toward preventing financial crises, it did not go far enough in the area of unifying the regulatory structure. Shull proposes unifying federal bank […] -
Working Paper No. 91A Comparison of Proposals to Restructure the US Financial System
This paper illustrates the potential for risk diversification through the common ownership of a hypothetical bank and nonbanking firm. The illustration has several implications for proposals for restructuring the financial system. Banks are not necessarily made safer by requiring that all nonbanking activities be conducted through separate subsidiaries. On the contrary, banks may be less […] -
Working Paper No. 90
Narrow Banks
Recent banking problems have prompted a variety of proposals for reforming deposit insurance and the banking system. Nearly all of these proposals, however, suffer from a common flaw—they would fail to create a banking system that is both stable and free to respond to market forces and financial developments. Narrow banking offers a possible means […] -
Working Paper No. 89
Profits for Economists
There is no single best estimate of profits because different purposes require measures. For example, profits in national income should be different than profits in financial statements. But given these differences, there are certain economic standards that should apply to all profit measures. These standards are described and then used to evaluate the appropriateness of […] -
Working Paper No. 88
Limits of Prudential Supervision
Bank supervision typically receives little if any attention when banks are operating without difficulty. But when banks fail in large numbers, or large banks fail, and the system itself is threatened, supervision becomes a focal point for criticism and reform (see, for example, Conference Report, 1998, Title I, IX; Pecchioli, 1987, pp. 11 ff.; and […] -
Working Paper No. 87
The Psychology of Risk
Risk is commonly defined in negative terms-the probability of suffering a loss or factors and actions involving uncertain dangers or hazards. On the other hand, the term risk as used in the social sciences relies on simply the degree of uncertainty: It merely addresses how much variance exists among the possible outcomes associated with a […] -
Working Paper No. 86
The Origins of Money and the Development of the Modern Financial System
The origins of money and banking are explained in nearly every introduction money and banking course, but Wray proposes an alternative approach that emerges from a comparative analysis of economic institutions. Orthodox theory suggests that barter replaced self-sufficiency and increased efficiency by fostering specialization- subsequently, establishing some object as a medium of exchange permits greater […] -
Public Policy Brief No. 4
Public Infrastructure Investment: A Bridge to Productivity Growth?
This brief presents contrasting views on the effects of public infrastructure investment on private sector productivity. David Alan Aschauer states that the slower rate of productivity growth since the early 1970s—coupled with an aging population, the declining proportion of workers to the total population, and other demographic factors—poses a dilemma for policymakers interested in strengthening […] -
Working Paper No. 85
The Relationship between Public and Private Investment
The relationship between government spending and aggregates such as output, employment, and prices has been the subject of many theoretical and empirical studies. Recently, however, interest has shifted to government spending on the provision of public capital (measured as fixed, nonresidential government capital) and various indicators of economic performance. Hence, government spending is now recognized […] -
Working Paper No. 84
Migration of Talent
In this paper, Rao tackles the reasons behind the increasing number and share of foreign students enrolled in Ph.D. economics programs in the U.S. The conventional argument of comparative advantage in U.S. graduate economics education fails to stand up under closer scrutiny. In addition to not explaining the actual and relative decline of American students […] -
Public Policy Brief No. 3
Community Development Banking
This brief proposes that the establishment of a nationwide system of community development banks (CDBs) would advance the capital development of the economy. The proposal is based on the notion that a critical function of the financial system is not being adequately performed by existing institutions for low-income citizens, inner-city minorities, and entrepreneurs who seek […] -
Public Policy Brief No. 3
Τραπεζικό σύστημα κοινοτικής ανάπτυξης
Το κείμενο προτείνει την εγκαθίδρυση ενός εθνικού συστήματος τραπεζών κοινοτικής ανάπτυξης για την προώθηση της κεφαλαιακής ανάπτυξης της οικονομίας. Η πρόταση βασίζεται στην άποψη ότι η υπάρχουσα χρηματοπιστωτική δομή είναι ιδιαίτερα αδύναμη όσον αφορά την εξυπηρέτηση ατόμων με χαμηλό εισόδημα, μειονότητες σε υποβαθμισμένες περιοχές του κέντρου και της πόλης, και μικρές και νεοσύστατες επιχειρήσεις. Οι […]