Economic Commentary
Providing you with in-depth analysis of current economic and financial issues.
1981
- November 16, 1981
- Savings and Loan Mergers in 1980
- Merger activity among the nation’s savings and loan associations increased dramatically in 1980 and accelerated in 1981. Persistently high and volatile interest rates in tandem with recession have placed severe pressure on the earnings of most liabilitysensitive thrift institutions. (PDF)
- November 2, 1981
- Current Perspectives on Home Ownership
- This Economic Commentary examines the underlying causes of the rapid escalation and subsequent deceleration in home prices, focusing on the economic developments that were the major stimulus to home ownership in the 1970s. (PDF)
- September 21, 1981
- Issue 1 and Workers? Compensation in Ohio
- The state of Ohio, which currently forbids private-insurance companies from competing with the state-run workers’ compensation program, is now in the throes of deciding whether to allow private-insurance carriers to enter the market. (PDF)
- September 7, 1981
- Thrifts, Extended Credit, and Monetary Policy
- The thrift industry primarily serves as an intermediary between people who wish to save in relatively liquid deposits and people who wish to borrow mortgage funds. When short-term interest rates are higher than long-term rates, as they have been in 1981, many depositors withdraw funds from their savings accounts to buy higher-yielding assets. If net deposit outflows are large enough, then some thrifts may exhaust their liquidity and be forced to sell mortgage assets at a loss; if the loss is large enough, some thrifts could be forced out of business. (PDF)
- August 10, 1981
- The Battle for NOWs
- Competition among depository institutions has intensified since January 1, 1981, when commercial banks, savings and loan associations, and mutual savings banks were authorized to offer negotiable order of withdrawal (NOW) accounts nationwide. (PDF)
- July 27, 1981
- Military Spending and the Economic Outlook
- The United States is embarking on an unprecedented increase. in peacetime military spending. The program has prompted heated discussions about the implications of defense spending for real output, employment, and prices. (PDF)
- July 13, 1981
- Why Do Deficits Matter?
- The current budget process is likely to produce large budget deficits in fiscal year 1982 and thereafter. The persistent and large deficits of recent years, however, have spawned intense debate about the effect of government borrowing on monetary policy and inflation. (PDF)
- May 18, 1981
- Community Development Corporations
- Over the past 20 years, considerable attention has focused on community development and revitalization, largely in response to the economic problems of our nation’s older, industrialized cities. This Economic Commentary examines one vehicle that enables financial institutions to participate in and stimulate the economic revitalization of their local communities—the community development corporation. (PDF)
- May 4, 1981
- Interpreting the Ms after the NOWs
- The nationwide introduction of negotiable order of withdrawal (NOW) accounts on December 31, 1980, has produced large shifts of funds from other assets into these interest-bearing transaction accounts. (PDF)
- April 20, 1981
- The Community Reinvestment Act: Early Experience and Problems
- This Economic Commentary examines the experience and responses of the individuals, institutions, and agencies that have worked with the CRA during the past 30 months. These include the community groups that have filed CRA protests challenging the expansion plans of financial institutions; the regulatory agencies that have issued various guidelines and policy statements to implement the act; and the financial institutions that have responded to the CRA by expanding their activities relating to community interaction and development. (PDF)
- April 6, 1981
- Bank Expansion in Ohio
- Both economic theory and available empirical evidence suggest that the relaxation of geographic restraints on bank expansion, particularly de novo expansion, promotes actual and potential competition in banking markets. Greater competition, in turn, benefits consumers by increased and improved financial services. (PDF)
- March 23, 1981
- Debt Management of Ohio’s Major Cities
- Municipal debt grew dramatically between 1968 and 1978—a period when gross capital formation by state and local governments was ebbing. The relative decline in public capital formation by state and local governments has been attributed to several factors, including lessening need for new capital (particularly with declining school enrollments) and rising interest rates. (PDF)
- March 9, 1981
- U.S. and Foreign Productivity and Competitiveness
- Although the level of productivity is very high in the United States, productivity growth has slowed sharply in recent years. Moreover, growth of productivity is significantly slower in the United States than in the other major industrialized nations. (PDF)
- February 23, 1981
- Inflation, Interest Rates, and Monetary Growth
- On October 6, 1979, the Federal Reserve System changed its operating procedures for monetary policy. The period following that change has been one of turbulence in the money and capital markets. Not only have interest rates risen to unprecedented heights, but both interest rates and money supply growth have been unusually volatile. (PDF)
- February 9, 1981
- Does the Federal Government Spend Too Much?
- The Reagan administration has set itself to the herculean task of reducing the growth of federal spending. (PDF)
- January 26, 1981
- Trends in Long-Term Commercial Bank Lending
- Interest rates rose to unusually high levels in 1980, fluctuating widely and sharply throughout the year. Unexpectedly large fluctuations in interest rates create problems for commercial banks, since their profitability crucially depends on their net interest margins—the difference between their interest income and expense. (PDF)
- January 12, 1981
- Consumer Lending and the Bankruptcy Reform Act of 1978
- The Bankruptcy Reform Act of 1978, effective October 1, 1979, is the first complete revision of U.S. bankruptcy law since 1898. (PDF)