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Monetary Stability and Liquidity Crises: The Role of the Lender of Last Resort

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Author Info
Gaetano Antinolfi () (Washington University)
Elisabeth Huybens () (The World Bank)
Todd Keister () (Centro de Investigacion Economica (CIE), Instituto Tecnologico Autonomo de Mexico (ITAM))

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Abstract

We evaluate the desirability of having an elastic currency generated by a lender of last resort that prints money and lends it to banks in distress. When banks cannot borrow, the economy has a unique equilibrium that is not Pareto optimal. The introduction of unlimited borrowing at a zero nominal interest rate generates a steady state equilibrium that is Pareto optimal. However, this policy is destabilizing in the sense that it also introduces a continuum of non-optimal inflationary equilibria. We explore two alternate policies aimed at eliminating such monetary instability while preserving the steady-state benefits of an elastic currency. If the lender of last resort imposes an upper bound on borrowing that is low enough, no inflationary equilibria can arise. For some (but not all) economies, the unique equilibrium under this policy is Pareto optimal. If the lender of last resort instead charges a zero real interest rate, no inflationary equilibria can arise. The unique equilibrium in this case is always Pareto optimal.

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File URL: http://ftp.itam.mx/pub/academico/inves/keister/00-01.pdf
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File Function: First version, 2000
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Paper provided by Centro de Investigacion Economica, ITAM in its series Working Papers with number 0001.

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Length: 36 pages
Date of creation: Aug 2000
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Handle: RePEc:cie:wpaper:0001

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Please report citation or reference errors to , or , if you are the registered author of the cited work, log in to your RePEc Author Service profile, click on "citations" and make appropriate adjustments.:
  1. Balasko, Yves & Shell, Karl, 1981. "The overlapping-generations model. II. The case of pure exchange with money," Journal of Economic Theory, Elsevier, vol. 24(1), pages 112-142, February. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  2. Sargent, Thomas J & Wallace, Neil, 1982. "The Real-Bills Doctrine versus the Quantity Theory: A Reconsideration," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 90(6), pages 1212-36, December. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  3. Bruce Champ & Bruce D. Smith & Stephen D. Williamson, 1996. "Currency Elasticity and Banking Panics: Theory and Evidence," Canadian Journal of Economics, Canadian Economics Association, vol. 29(4), pages 828-64, November. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  4. Mitsui, Toshihide & Watanabe, Shinichi, 1989. "Monetary growth in a turnpike environment," Journal of Monetary Economics, Elsevier, vol. 24(1), pages 123-137, July. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  5. Woodford, Michael, 1986. "Stationary sunspot equilibria in a finance constrained economy," Journal of Economic Theory, Elsevier, vol. 40(1), pages 128-137, October. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  6. Townsend, Robert M, 1987. "Economic Organization with Limited Communication," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 77(5), pages 954-71, December. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  7. Roberto Chang & Andres Velasco, 1998. "Financial Fragility and the Exchange Rate Regime," NBER Working Papers 6469, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  8. Smith, Bruce D & Weber, Warren E, 1999. "Private Money Creation and the Suffolk Banking System," Journal of Money, Credit and Banking, Blackwell Publishing, vol. 31(3), pages 624-59, August.
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  9. Hornstein, Andreas & Krusell, Per, 1993. "Money and Insurance in a Turnpike Environment," Economic Theory, Springer, vol. 3(1), pages 19-34, January.
  10. Freeman, Scott, 1999. "Rediscounting under aggregate risk," Journal of Monetary Economics, Elsevier, vol. 43(1), pages 197-216, February. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  11. Balasko, Yves & Shell, Karl, 1980. "The overlapping-generations model, I: The case of pure exchange without money," Journal of Economic Theory, Elsevier, vol. 23(3), pages 281-306, December. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  12. Smith, Bruce D, 1994. "Efficiency and Determinacy of Equilibrium under Inflation Targeting," Economic Theory, Springer, vol. 4(3), pages 327-44.
  13. Chang, R. & Velasco, A., 1998. "Financial Fragility and the Exchange Rate Regime," Working Papers 98-05, C.V. Starr Center for Applied Economics, New York University. [Downloadable!]
  14. Stephen D. Williamson, 1998. "Discount Window Lending and Deposit Insurance," Review of Economic Dynamics, Elsevier for the Society for Economic Dynamics, vol. 1(1), pages 246-275, January. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  15. Chang, Roberto & Velasco, Andres, 2000. "Financial Fragility and the Exchange Rate Regime," Journal of Economic Theory, Elsevier, vol. 92(1), pages 1-34, May. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  16. Stanley Fischer, 1999. "On the Need for an International Lender of Last Resort," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 13(4), pages 85-104, Fall. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  17. Mishkin, Frederic S., 1999. "Lessons from the Asian crisis," Journal of International Money and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 18(4), pages 709-723, August. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  18. Grandmont, Jean-Michel, 1986. "Stabilizing competitive business cycles," Journal of Economic Theory, Elsevier, vol. 40(1), pages 57-76, October. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  19. James Peck & Karl Shell, 2003. "Equilibrium Bank Runs," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 111(1), pages 103-123, February. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  20. Gale, David, 1973. "Pure exchange equilibrium of dynamic economic models," Journal of Economic Theory, Elsevier, vol. 6(1), pages 12-36, February. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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Cited by:
(explanations, Please report citation or reference errors to , or , if you are the registered author of the cited work, log in to your RePEc Author Service profile, click on "citations" and make appropriate adjustments.)

  1. Bhattacharya, Joydeep & Singh, Rajesh, 2006. "On the Usefulness of the Constrained Planning Problem in a Model of Money," Staff General Research Papers 12660, Iowa State University, Department of Economics.
  2. Antoine Martin, 2008. "Reconciling Bagehot with the Fed's response to September 11," Staff Reports 217, Federal Reserve Bank of New York. [Downloadable!]
  3. Bhattacharya, Joydeep & Singh, Rajesh, 2005. "Optimal Choice of Monetary Instruments in an Economy with Real and Liquidity Shocks," Staff General Research Papers 12355, Iowa State University, Department of Economics.
  4. Antoine Martin, 2002. "Reconciling Bagehot with the Fed's response to Sept. 11," Research Working Paper RWP 02-10, Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City. [Downloadable!]
  5. Gaetano Antinolfi & Todd Keister, 2003. "Discount Window Policy, Banking Crises, and Indeterminacy of Equilibrium," Working Papers 0305, Centro de Investigacion Economica, ITAM. [Downloadable!]
    Other versions:
  6. Carlos Gustavo Machicado, 2006. "Liquidity Shocks and the Dollarization of a Banking System," Development Research Working Paper Series 09/2006, Institute for Advanced Development Studies. [Downloadable!]
  7. Gaetano Antinolfi & Todd Keister, 2000. "Liquidity Crises and Discount Window Lending: Theory and Implications for the Dollarization Debate," Working Papers 0002, Centro de Investigacion Economica, ITAM. [Downloadable!]
  8. Gaetano Antinolfi & Todd Keister, 2001. "Dollarization as a monetary arrangement for emerging market economies," Review, Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis, issue Nov., pages 29-40. [Downloadable!]
  9. Carlos Gustavo Machicado, 2007. "Growth and Banking Structure in a Partially Dollarized Economy," Development Research Working Paper Series 02/2007, Institute for Advanced Development Studies. [Downloadable!]
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