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A Leverage-Based Measure of Financial Instability

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  • Tobias Adrian
  • Karol Jan Borowiecki
  • Alexander Tepper

Abstract

The size and the leverage of financial market investors and the elasticity of demand of unlevered investors define MinMaSS, the smallest market size that can support a given degree of leverage. The financial system’s potential for financial crises can be measured by the stability ratio, the fraction of total market size to MinMaSS. We use that financial stability metric to gauge the buildup of vulnerability in the run-up to the 1998 Long-Term Capital Management crisis and argue that policymakers could have detected the potential for the crisis.

Suggested Citation

  • Tobias Adrian & Karol Jan Borowiecki & Alexander Tepper, 2014. "A Leverage-Based Measure of Financial Instability," Staff Reports 688, Federal Reserve Bank of New York.
    • Handle: RePEc:fip:fednsr:688
    Note: Revised February 2021.
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    Cited by:

    1. Borowiecki, Karol & Dzieliński, Michał & Tepper, Alexander, 2022. "The Great Margin Call: The Role of Leverage in the 1929 Stock Market Crash," Discussion Papers on Economics 1/2022, University of Southern Denmark, Department of Economics.
    2. Monica Laura Zlati & Romeo Victor Ionescu & Valentin Marian Antohi, 2022. "Modelling the Vulnerability of Financial Accounting Systems during Global Challenges: A Comparative Analysis," Mathematics, MDPI, vol. 10(9), pages 1-21, April.
    3. Jan K. Solarz, 2015. "Systemic Risk Management. Cognitive Perspective (Zarzadzanie ryzykiem systemu finansowego. Perspektywa poznawcza)," Problemy Zarzadzania, University of Warsaw, Faculty of Management, vol. 13(55), pages 30-46.
    4. Karol Jan Borowiecki & Michał Dzieliński & Alexander Tepper, 2023. "The great margin call: The role of leverage in the 1929 Wall Street crash," Economic History Review, Economic History Society, vol. 76(3), pages 807-826, August.
    5. de Haan, Jakob & Fang, Yi & Jing, Zhongbo, 2020. "Does the risk on banks’ balance sheets predict banking crises? New evidence for developing countries," International Review of Economics & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 68(C), pages 254-268.
    6. Radu LUPU & Iulia LUPU & Tanase STAMULE & Mihai ROMAN, 2022. "Entropy as Leading Indicator for Extreme Systemic Risk Events," Journal for Economic Forecasting, Institute for Economic Forecasting, vol. 0(4), pages 58-73, December.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    leverage; financial crisis; financial stability; minimum market size for stability; MinMaSS; stability ratio; Long-Term Capital Management; LTCM;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • E58 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Monetary Policy, Central Banking, and the Supply of Money and Credit - - - Central Banks and Their Policies
    • G01 - Financial Economics - - General - - - Financial Crises
    • G10 - Financial Economics - - General Financial Markets - - - General (includes Measurement and Data)
    • G20 - Financial Economics - - Financial Institutions and Services - - - General

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