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Inefficient Provision of Liquidity

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  • Oliver D. Hart
  • Luigi Zingales

Abstract

We study an economy where the lack of a simultaneous double coincidence of wants creates the need for a relatively safe asset (money). We show that, even in the absence of asymmetric information or an agency problem, the private provision of liquidity is inefficient. The reason is that liquidity affects prices and the welfare of others, and creators do not internalize this. This distortion is present even if we introduce lending and government money. To eliminate the inefficiency the government must restrict the creation of liquidity by the private sector.

Suggested Citation

  • Oliver D. Hart & Luigi Zingales, 2011. "Inefficient Provision of Liquidity," NBER Working Papers 17299, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    • Handle: RePEc:nbr:nberwo:17299
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Cited by:

    1. Zhiguo He & Péter Kondor, 2016. "Inefficient Investment Waves," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 84, pages 735-780, March.
    2. Chari, V.V. & Phelan, Christopher, 2014. "On the social usefulness of fractional reserve banking," Journal of Monetary Economics, Elsevier, vol. 65(C), pages 1-13.
    3. Oliver Hart & Luigi Zingales, 2015. "Liquidity And Inefficient Investment," Journal of the European Economic Association, European Economic Association, vol. 13(5), pages 737-769, October.
    4. Jonathan Zinman, 2014. "Consumer Credit: Too Much or Too Little (or Just Right)?," The Journal of Legal Studies, University of Chicago Press, vol. 43(S2), pages 209-237.
    5. Maya Eden & Benjamin S. Kay, 2019. "Safe Assets as Commodity Money," Journal of Money, Credit and Banking, Blackwell Publishing, vol. 51(6), pages 1651-1689, September.
    6. Weerachart T. Kilenthong & Robert M. Townsend, 2021. "A Market-Based Solution for Fire Sales and Other Pecuniary Externalities," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 129(4), pages 981-1010.
    7. Park, Jaevin & Kwon, Ohik, 2023. "Stablecoins: Legal restrictions theory and monetary policy," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 226(C).
    8. Weerachart T. Kilenthong & Robert M. Townsend, 2021. "A Market-Based Solution for Fire Sales and Other Pecuniary Externalities," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 129(4), pages 981-1010.
    9. Jyh-Horng Lin & Shi Chen & Fu-Wei Huang, 2018. "Bank Interest Margin, Multiple Shadow Banking Activities, and Capital Regulation," IJFS, MDPI, vol. 6(3), pages 1-20, July.

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    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • E41 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Money and Interest Rates - - - Demand for Money
    • E51 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Monetary Policy, Central Banking, and the Supply of Money and Credit - - - Money Supply; Credit; Money Multipliers
    • G21 - Financial Economics - - Financial Institutions and Services - - - Banks; Other Depository Institutions; Micro Finance Institutions; Mortgages

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