Origins of the use of Treasury debt in open market operations: lessons for the present

The Federal Reserve currently conducts open market operations primarily in Treasury securities. It has not always done so. In its earliest years, the Fed conducted open market operations primarily in private securities, such as bankers' acceptances. The Fed's choice of instruments was based both on economic doctrine and to help foster a liquid secondary market in these securities. The move to reliance on Treasury securities resulted from changes in the financial markets and the prevailing economic doctrine. These historical antecedents may have relevance for current problems facing the Federal Reserve.Federal Reserve banks ; Open market operations ; Debt

Understanding the Asian crisis: systemic risk as coordination failure

Systemic crises, such as the recent Asian crisis, may be due to an inability of individual to optimally coordinate their investment strategies.Financial crises - Asia ; Risk ; Investments

Video Styles and Learning

With the current prevalence of online and distance learning, videos are becoming a larger part of our education system. It is important that we be able to fully utilize the potential of videos as education tools. Videos make use of more senses than just printed materials, and provide greater flexibility for both teachers and students (Bevan). What qualities make a good educational video? We believe that to be effective at teaching a video needs to be interesting enough to students’ attention and have enough information to be useful. By surveying a number of college students, we were able to support my hypothesis. With this information, we will be able to better select and create instructional videos both in academia and in the world at large

The crisis of 1998 and the role of the central bank

Following the Russian default and devaluation in August 1998, financial markets were characterized by a withdrawal of liquidity, a flight to the safest assets, increased concerns about credit quality, and large declines in asset values. However, the crisis ended following a rather modest interest rate cut by the Federal Reserve. Why did the central bank's action have this effect? This article argues that the crisis was an episode of potential coordination failure, triggered by, but distinct from, the events in Russia. The Federal Reserve's action signaled a policy change that serve to eliminate the coordination failure equilibrium.Financial crises ; Banks and banking, Central

Linking glacial-interglacial states to multiple equilibria of climate

Glacial-Interglacial cycles are often described as an amplified global response of the climate to perturbations in solar radiation caused by oscillations of Earth's orbit. However, it remains unclear whether internal feedbacks are large enough to account for the radically different Glacial and Interglacial states. Here we provide support for an alternative view: Glacial-Interglacial states are multiple equilibria of the climate system which exist for the same external forcing. We show that such multiple equilibria resembling Glacial and Interglacial states can be found in a complex coupled General Circulation Model of the ocean-atmosphere-sea ice system. The multiple states are sustained by ice-albedo feedback modified by ocean heat transport and are not caused by the bi-stability of the ocean's overturning circulation. In addition, expansion/contraction of the Southern Hemisphere ice pack over regions of upwelling, regulating outgassing of CO$_2$ to the atmosphere, is the primary mechanism behind a large pCO$_2$ change between states