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Safe Assets, Liquidity, and Monetary Policy

Author

Listed:
  • Pierpaolo Benigno
  • Salvatore Nisticò

Abstract

This paper studies monetary policy in models where multiple assets have different liquidity properties: safe and "pseudo-safe" assets coexist. A shock worsening the liquidity properties of the pseudo-safe assets raises interest rate spreads and can cause a deep recession-cum-deflation. Expanding the central bank's balance sheet fills the shortage of safe assets and counteracts the recession. Lowering the interest rate on reserves insulates market interest rates from the liquidity shock and improves risk sharing between borrowers and savers.

Suggested Citation

  • Pierpaolo Benigno & Salvatore Nisticò, 2017. "Safe Assets, Liquidity, and Monetary Policy," American Economic Journal: Macroeconomics, American Economic Association, vol. 9(2), pages 182-227, April.
    • Handle: RePEc:aea:aejmac:v:9:y:2017:i:2:p:182-227
    Note: DOI: 10.1257/mac.20150073
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    Cited by:

    1. Lubello, Federico & Petrella, Ivan & Santoro, Emiliano, 2019. "Bank assets, liquidity and credit cycles," Journal of Economic Dynamics and Control, Elsevier, vol. 105(C), pages 265-282.
    2. Maya Eden, 2019. "International Liquidity Rents," Review of Economic Dynamics, Elsevier for the Society for Economic Dynamics, vol. 31, pages 147-159, January.
    3. Gianluca Benigno & Pierpaolo Benigno, 2022. "Managing Monetary Policy Normalization," Staff Reports 1015, Federal Reserve Bank of New York.
    4. Filiani, Pasquale, 2021. "Optimal monetary–fiscal policy in the euro area liquidity crisis," Journal of Macroeconomics, Elsevier, vol. 70(C).
    5. Benigno, Pierpaolo & Robatto, Roberto, 2016. "Private Money Creation and Equilibrium Liquidity," CEPR Discussion Papers 11242, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    6. Giorgio Massari & Luca Portoghese & Patrizio Tirelli, 2024. "Whither Liquidity Shocks? Implications for R∗ and Monetary Policy," DEM Working Papers Series 217, University of Pavia, Department of Economics and Management.
    7. Pierpaolo Benigno & Salvatore Nisticò, 2020. "Non-neutrality of Open-Market Operations," American Economic Journal: Macroeconomics, American Economic Association, vol. 12(3), pages 175-226, July.
    8. Madalen Castells Jauregui & Björn Richter & Dmitry Kuvshinov & Victoria Vanasco, 2024. "Foreign Demand for Safety and Macroeconomic Instability," Working Papers 1438, Barcelona School of Economics.
    9. Christian Bredemeier & Christoph Kaufmann & Andreas Schabert, 2017. "Interest Rate Spreads and Forward Guidance," Working Paper Series in Economics 96, University of Cologne, Department of Economics.
    10. Federico Lubello, 2024. "From Brown to Green: Climate Transition and Macroprudential Policy Coordination," JRFM, MDPI, vol. 17(10), pages 1-20, October.
    11. Castells Jauregui, Madalen & Kuvshinov, Dmitry & Richter, Björn & Vanasco, Victoria, 2024. "Sectoral dynamics of safe assets in advanced economies," CEPR Discussion Papers 19025, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    12. Cassola, Nuno & Koulischer, François, 2019. "The collateral channel of open market operations," Journal of Financial Stability, Elsevier, vol. 41(C), pages 73-90.
    13. Feng Dong & Yi Wen, 2017. "Flight to What? — Dissecting Liquidity Shortages in the Financial Crisis," Working Papers 2017-25, Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis.
    14. Tischbirek, Andreas, 2018. "Large-scale bond purchases in a currency union with segmentation in the market for government debt," Journal of Economic Dynamics and Control, Elsevier, vol. 95(C), pages 37-69.
    15. Feng Dong & Yi Wen, 2025. "Flight to Safety or Liquidity? Dissecting Liquidity Shortages in the Financial Crisis," Journal of Money, Credit and Banking, Blackwell Publishing, vol. 57(5), pages 1299-1334, August.
    16. Ricardo Reis, 2017. "QE in the Future: The Central Bank’s Balance Sheet in a Fiscal Crisis," IMF Economic Review, Palgrave Macmillan;International Monetary Fund, vol. 65(1), pages 71-112, April.
    17. Federico Lubello & Ivan Petrella & Emiliano Santoro, 2018. "Chained financial frictions and credit cycles," BCL working papers 116, Central Bank of Luxembourg.
    18. Damjanovic, Tatiana & Girdėnas, Šarūnas, 2014. "Quantitative easing and the loan to collateral value ratio," Journal of Economic Dynamics and Control, Elsevier, vol. 45(C), pages 146-164.
    19. Benigno, Pierpaolo & Benigno, Gianluca, 2021. "Interest, Reserves and Prices," CEPR Discussion Papers 16222, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    20. Gabriella Chiesa, 2020. "Safe Assets, Credit Provision and Debt Management," Open Economies Review, Springer, vol. 31(3), pages 637-667, July.

    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • E31 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Prices, Business Fluctuations, and Cycles - - - Price Level; Inflation; Deflation
    • E32 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Prices, Business Fluctuations, and Cycles - - - Business Fluctuations; Cycles
    • E43 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Money and Interest Rates - - - Interest Rates: Determination, Term Structure, and Effects
    • E44 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Money and Interest Rates - - - Financial Markets and the Macroeconomy
    • E52 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Monetary Policy, Central Banking, and the Supply of Money and Credit - - - Monetary Policy

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