ECO 216, Readings

Money and Monetary Policy

Here is an older (near the start of the Asian Financial Crisis) discussion of fixed vs. flexible exchange rates from The Economist.

“Fix or Float, Sink or Swim?” June, 19 1997. The Economist.  pdf1

Greg Mankiw discusses the Trilemma.

Mankiw, G. July 10, 2010. “The Trilemma of International Finance.” New York Times

Here and here are two articles from the Atlantic that summarize most economists’ take on returning to the Gold Standard.

White, Gillian. 11/11/2015. “Why are Republicans So Obsessed with the Gold Standard?” The Atlantic

O,Brien, Matthew. 8/26/2012. “Why the Gold Standard is the World’s Worst Economic Idea, In 2 Charts.” The Atlantic

Economic Crises

Here are four short articles from The Economist on the Tequila Crisis.

The Lingering Tequila Hangover.” March 12th 1998. The Economist    pdf2

Tequila Slammer.” December 29th 2004. The Economist     pdf3

From Tequila Crisis to Sunrise.” September 22, 2012. The Economist    pdf4

Pass the Tequila.” December 13th 2014. The Economist     pdf5

Enrique Mendoza has an interesting post about debt-deflation:

Mendoza, E. 2/12/09. “Hire Irving Fisher.“ Vox

Yet another article from The Economist. This one is on Irving Fisher, the originator of the debt-deflation theory.

Out of Keynes’s Shadow.” February 12, 2009. The Economist    pdf6

A non-technical article about debt-deflation and economic crises: (from JSTOR)

Dimand, R. 1994. “Irving Fisher’s Debt-Deflation Theory of Great Depressions.“ Review of Social Economy, Vol. 52(1): 92-107.

Central Banks as Lenders of Last Resort and Regulators

A short and a shorter article on lenders of last resort.

Humphery, Thomas. 1989. “Lender of Last Resort: The Concept in HistoryFederal Reserve Bank of Richmond Economic Review, April/May: 8-18.

What Would Bagehot Do?” August 16, 2007. The Economist    pdf7

Here is some detail on the Fed’s CAMELs system

Lopez, Jose. June 11, 1999. “Using CAMELs to Monitor Bank Conditions.” Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco Economics Letters, 

The New York Fed’s blog has an interesting post about lending as a last resort during the recent financial crisis.

Viral V. Acharya, Michael J. Fleming, Warren B. Hrung, and Asani Sarkar. 5/10/2017.”Which Dealers Borrowed from the Fed’s Lender-of-Last Resort Facilities.” Liberty Street Economics

The Creation of the Federal Reserve

Here is Milton Friedman on the Coinage Act of 1873.

Friedman, Milton. 1990. “The Crime of 1873” Journal of Political Economy, Vol. 98(6): 1159-1194.

Here are two articles on the Panic of 1907.

Tallman, Ellis and Jon Moen. 1990. “Lessons from the Panic of 1907.” Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta Economic Review. May/June:2-13.

Federal Reserve Bank of Boston. “The Panic of 1907

Here is a short article commemorating the 100th anniversary of the Fed.

Lowenstein, Roger. June 22, 2013. “The Federal Reserve’s Framers Would Be Shocked.” The New York Times

The Great Depression

The main “reading” is a lecture from Ben Bernanke on the origins of the Fed and the Great Depression:

Bernanke, Ben. March 22, 2012. “Origins and Mission of the Federal Reserve.

Here is Friedman and Schwartz’s famous account of the Great Depression:

Friedman, M. and A. Schwartz. 1965. “The Great Contraction.” Princeton University Press

Here is an interesting back and forth on Brad Delong’s blog about the success of the New Deal

Here is Ben Bernanke’s 2004 speech where he blamed the Fed for the Great Depression.

Remarks by Governor Ben Bernanke. March 2, 2004. “Money, Gold and the Great Depression.” At the H. Parker Willis Lecture in Economic Policy, Washington and Lee University, Lexington, Virginia

The Great Inflation

Here is a good discussion of the causes and role of policy in the Great Inflation

Bordo, M. and A. Orphanides. 2013. “The Great Inflation: The Rebirth of Modern Central Banking.” University of Chicago Press.

Here is a very short piece on the hapless WIN program.

Farber, Amy. July 23, 2012. “Historical Echoes: whip Inflation Now … and Then.“ Liberty Street Economics Blog

Part 2 of 4 of Ben Bernanke’s lecture series includes the Great Inflation

Bernanke, Ben. March 22, 2012. “The Federal Reserve After World War II

Chinese Monetary Policy

Here are two Economist articles worth a quick read.

Currency Peace.” February 21, 2015. The Economist

The Yuan and the Markets.” January 16, 2016. The Economist

This article discusses trends in manufacturing, including how they are effected by trade with China

Baily, M.N, and B. Bosworth. 2013. “U.S. Manufacturing: Understanding its Past and its Potential Future.” Journal of Economic Perspectives. Vol. 28(1): 3-26.

Below this point, readings have not yet been updated for Fall 2020

The Asian Financial Crises

This article provides a lot of detail:

Corsetti, G., Pesenti, P., and N. Roubini. 1999. “What Caused the Asian Currency and Financial Crisis?” Japan and the World Economy, 11(3): 305-373.

Here is a shorter read:

Kawai, M. 2007. “The East Asian Currency Crisis: Causes and Lessons.” Contemporary Economic Policy, 16(2): 157-172.

Zimbabwe

Here is an excellent article from the Dallas Fed.

Koech, Janet. 2011. “Hyperinflation in Zimbabwe.” Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas , Globalization and Monetary Policy Annual Report 2011.

This is a nice article that provides some basic background.

Umraw, Amil. 11/21/17. “This is How Mugabe Broke Zimbabwe’s Economy.” Huffington Post

Recent (post-2000) Issues in Central Banking

Ideally, you would watch the final two installments of Bernanke’s Lecture Series

Bernanke, Ben. March 27, 2012. “The Federal Reserve’s Response to the Financial Crisis.

Bernanke, Ben. March 29, 2012. “The Aftermath of the Crisis.