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Banking and finance

 

  • Research Department Working Papers

    Debt Maturity and Commitment on Firm Policies

    If firms can issue debt only at discrete dates, debt maturity is an effective device against the commitment problem on debt and investment policies. With shorter maturities, debt dynamics are less persistent and more valuable because upward leverage adjustments are faster and long-run leverage lower.

  • Interest rate volatility contributed to higher mortgage rates in 2022

    The Federal Reserve aggressively tightened monetary policy in 2022, responding to high and persistent inflation. The resulting borrowing cost increase for households and firms was generally anticipated. However, fixed-rate mortgage interest rates were especially sensitive to the policy regime change.

  • Surveys

    Banking Conditions Survey

    Loan demand declined for the fifth period in a row as bankers in the March survey reported worsening business activity.

  • Surveys

    Banking Conditions Survey

    Loan demand declined for the fourth period in a row, with more than half of bankers reporting a decrease over the past six weeks.

  • Dallas Fed, Latin American central banks explore financial stability risks

    The COVID-19 pandemic, recent monetary tightening and a strengthening U.S. dollar were the themes explored during a recent conference organized by the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas and the Center for Latin American Monetary Studies (CEMLA) and held at CEMLA’s Mexico City headquarters.

  • Research Department Working Papers

    Financial Technology and the Transmission of Monetary Policy: The Role of Social Networks

    This paper establishes that social networks play a key role in consumers’ adoption of FinTech lending, which amplifies the effects of a monetary stimulus.

  • Residential solar power shines on, backed by securitized lending

    Residential solar is a small and rapidly expanding sector, and the securitization market—the packaging of loans to investors—has been one of the most popular sources of funding for new solar installations.

  • High inflation disproportionately hurts low-income households

    Household survey results do not support Nobel laureate economist Paul Krugman's recent suggestion that low-income families “have actually been hurt less by inflation than families with higher incomes.”

  • Surveys

    Banking Conditions Survey

    Loan volumes declined for the third period in a row, and loan demand continued to fall sharply.

  • Decentralized finance proposed as alternative to traditional financial services

    DeFi applications allow users to directly interact with each other to borrow, lend, insure and exchange digital assets without centralized intermediaries, such as banks and custodial exchanges.