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Series:Policy Hub 

Discussion Paper
Standing Repo Facilities, Then and Now

Recently there have been discussions, both within the FOMC and more broadly, about whether the FOMC should set up a standing repo facility. Such a facility would allow banks to sell safe assets (U.S. Treasury securities) to the Fed, with the assurance of subsequent repurchase, in unlimited quantities at an administered rate. This is not a new idea. In fact, a similar facility was implemented in 1683by the Bank of Amsterdam, the leading central bank of the time, and operated for more than a century afterward. In this article, we describe the motivations, operations, and limitations of the Bank ...
Policy Hub , Paper 2020-1

Discussion Paper
Central Banks, Global Shocks, and Local Crises: Lessons from the Atlanta Fed's Response to the 1920–21 Recession

During late 1920, the president (then called "governor") and board of directors of the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta were confronted with an unexpected, devastating collapse in the price of a commodity whose global production was concentrated in their district—cotton. Their judgment was that the fall in cotton prices was temporary and that its effects could be lessened with generous credit policies that did not conflict with the Federal Reserve Act. Other officials within the Federal Reserve System did not agree with this judgment, however, leading to a contentious policy debate and an ...
Policy Hub , Paper 2020-15

Journal Article
Where There's Smoke...: The Wage Impact of Smoking

Cigarette smokers earn significantly less than nonsmokers, but the magnitude of the smoking wage gap and the pathways by which it originates are unclear. While most research focuses on contemporaneous reasons for the wage differential, the research described in this Policy Hub article finds that decisions made early in life—about education, labor force participation, and occupation—contribute significantly to the wage penalty smokers face later, especially for men. Women are found to be judged more harshly by their current employers for their smoking behavior, and since quitting smoking ...
Policy Hub , Volume 2020 , Issue 11 , Pages 8

Journal Article
Money Aggregates, Debt, Pent-Up Demand, and Inflation: Evidence from WWII

The COVID-19 pandemic produced a massive decline in U.S. consumption in 2020 and swift fiscal and monetary policy responses. After growing at a rather steady 5 percent rate for decades, the money supply (M2) increased 25 percent over the past year alongside unprecedented fiscal support, raising some inflation concerns. Concurrent with the reopening of the economy as vaccines roll out, this article derives some lessons from the U.S. experience during and after WWII. The debt-to-GDP ratio increased from 40 percent to 110 percent because of the war effort. Most of it was financed by Fed debt ...
Policy Hub , Volume 2021 , Issue 4 , Pages 19

Journal Article
What Accounts for the Growing Divergence between Employment Measures?

Our analysis reveals a significant and persistent divergence between employment measures from the Current Employment Statistics (CES) and Current Population Survey (CPS). Adjusting for the net birth-death contribution of businesses only partially explains this gap. The remaining large discrepancy is likely due to an underestimation of population growth in the CPS, potentially linked to recent immigration fluctuations. This finding has substantial implications for understanding the current labor market: adjusted CPS data reveals a more robust labor market with healthy demand and rapid supply ...
Policy Hub , Volume 2024 , Issue 6 , Pages 17

Journal Article
Aging, Deflation, and Secular Stagnation

Prior to the COVID pandemic, industrialized countries experienced a sustained episode of low inflation, low real interest rates, and low per capita gross domestic product (GDP) growth. As the logistical and other disruptions created by the COVID pandemic fade, will industrialized economies once again face downward pressure on prices, real interest rates, and output growth? We present evidence that the aging of the population was depressing the inflation rate, as well as real interest rates and GDP growth, prior to the COVID pandemic. Aging is ongoing in industrialized countries, and it will ...
Policy Hub , Volume 2022 , Issue 13

Journal Article
Racial Differences in Mortgage Refinancing, Distress, and Housing Wealth Accumulation during COVID-19

The COVID-19 pandemic was characterized by both high refinancing volumes and high rates of mortgage nonpayment. Refinancing activity differed significantly across racial and ethnic groups, and we show that the benefits from the lower interest rate environment were not shared equally. Compared to white borrowers, Black and Hispanic mortgage borrowers experienced higher rates of nonpayment, which reflected both a greater transition into nonpayment status for Black and Hispanic borrowers and a lower likelihood of resuming payments. However, strong house price appreciation in recent years, ...
Policy Hub , Volume 2021 , Issue 6 , Pages 40

Journal Article
Electric Vehicles, Potholes, and Taxes: Who Pays the Price?

Automobile manufacturers and even some states have ambitious goals to phase out gas-powered cars. Currently, a primary source of automobile infrastructure funding is gasoline taxes. But as electric vehicles replace gasoline-powered cars, less gasoline will be purchased and revenues from the gasoline tax will fall short of what is needed to maintain roads. Consumers who do not purchase electric vehicles—perhaps because they can't afford them—are left to bear the burden of the gasoline tax. This Policy Hub article illustrates the inherent regressivity of the gasoline tax and then simulates ...
Policy Hub , Volume 2023 , Issue 4

Discussion Paper
Remittances and COVID-19: A Tale of Two Countries

Looking at the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on workers' remittances flowing from the United States, this article focuses on the experiences of two countries, El Salvador and Mexico, which account for approximately 30 percent of all immigrants currently residing in the United States. Following the second quarter's economic lockdown, transfers to these countries experienced perplexing dynamics. Specifically, remittances to El Salvador witnessed a record 40 percent sudden drop, while Mexico recorded an unexpected 35 percent increase. We discuss some of the narratives proposed to explain this ...
Policy Hub , Paper 2020-12

Discussion Paper
Financial Stability and the Coronavirus Pandemic

The Atlanta Fed recently helped organize a conference titled "Financial Stability and the Coronavirus Pandemic." The conference had three sessions devoted to problems focusing on various aspects of how the markets for corporate credits responded to the COVID-19 shock including corporate bond investment funds, the corporate bond market, and the corporate loan market. This article summarizes some of the important findings of the papers presented at the conference.
Policy Hub , Paper 2020-13

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