Is there a "credit channel" for monetary policy?

Monetary policy

Social Security and Household Portfolio Allocation

The entitlement to social security retirement benefits is a major component of aggregate household wealth. This paper focuses on the impact of social security annuities on household portfolio allocation, extending existing optimizing models of portfolio allocation to explicitly consider the role of social security. The model is implemented using cross-section data. The partial equilibrium impacts of changes in social security benefits on portfolio choice and composition are small but precisely measured. The general equilibrium impacts on asset markets of a social security policy change (focusing onlinks between social security and dynamic wealth accumulation and between social security benefits and private pension benefits) are generally much larger.

ECONOMIC GROWTH AND REFORM: LESSONS FROM THE UNITED STATES AND JAPAN

The Japanese economy has had four recessions since 1990. Also the U.S. economy has been in difficulties during more recent years but there are clear signs of an economic recovery. While Japan’s difficulties are not the mirror image of those in the United States, it is interesting to note that the same mix of policy responses might support recovery in Japan: aggressive monetary action to address deflationary pressures, fiscal policy oriented around controlling spending and long-run tax forms that also provide near-term stimulus, and structural reforms to improve capital market functioning. This policy mix to help revive the Japanese economy will involve politically difficult decisions. In this context, the role of the United States should be to acknowledge the steps that have already been taken in Japan and call attention to those steps that remain to be carried out.The Japanese economy; economic crisis; macroeconomics

The rise of offshoring : it's not wine for cloth anymore : general discussion

Productivity

Shifts in economic geography and their causes: general discussion

Productivity