Economic Research and Data
Features
- The History and Rationale for a Separate Bank Resolution Process
- Everyone recognizes the need to have a credible resolution regime in place for financial companies whose failure could harm the entire financial system, but people disagree about which regime is best. The emergence of the parallel banking system has led policymakers to reconsider the dividing line between firms that should be resolved in bankruptcy and firms that should be subject to a special resolution regime. A look at the history of insolvency resolution in this country suggests that a blended approach is worth considering. Activities that have potential systemic impact might be best handled administratively, while all other claims could be dealt with under a court-supervised resolution. Read more (PDF)
- Loans and Leases in Bank Credit
- Loans and leases in bank credit are an important measure of economic strength. They serve as an indicator of how quickly the general economy is growing and, more importantly, what areas of the economy are expanding. Loans and leases are recovering much more slowly during this recovery than they did in the previous two. But balances in commercial and industrial loans have grown faster. Read more
- More Transparency, But Not a Crystal Ball
- On January 3, the Fed released the minutes from the December Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) meeting and revealed that it will begin publishing the Committee’s interest rate projections. The goal of this action is to provide more transparency in the policymaking process. However, there are limitations to the information these types of projections provide. Examining the experiences of some foreign central banks illustrates what conclusions might and might not be drawn from the new data. Read more