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Credit Policy in times of Financial Distress

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  • Azariadis, Costas

Abstract

This essay evaluates two central bank policy tools, capital requirements and lending of last resort, designed to avert financial panics in the context of endowment economies with complete markets and limited borrower commitment. Credit panics are self-fulfilling shocks to expected credit conditions which cause transitions from an optimal but fragile steady state to a suboptimal state with zero unsecured credit. The main findings are: (i) Countercyclical reserve policies protect the optimal equilibrium against modest shocks but are powerless against large shocks. (ii) If we ignore private information and central bank inefficiencies, this class of models bears out Bagehot’s 1873 claim in Lombard Street: panics are averted if central banks stand ready to lend at a rate somewhat above the one associated with the optimal state.

Suggested Citation

  • Azariadis, Costas, 2014. "Credit Policy in times of Financial Distress," Journal of Macroeconomics, Elsevier, vol. 39(PB), pages 337-345.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:jmacro:v:39:y:2014:i:pb:p:337-345
    DOI: 10.1016/j.jmacro.2013.09.003
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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Bank panics; Last resort; Capital requirements; Credit conditions;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • E52 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Monetary Policy, Central Banking, and the Supply of Money and Credit - - - Monetary Policy
    • E58 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Monetary Policy, Central Banking, and the Supply of Money and Credit - - - Central Banks and Their Policies
    • E44 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Money and Interest Rates - - - Financial Markets and the Macroeconomy

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