The 2008 Commercial-Paper Freeze Showed Why Ordinary Companies Need Financial Markets
Financial crises do not remain confined to banks and traders. Many large businesses use commercial paper—short-term unsecured debt—to…
Before the 1997 Asian Crisis, Fast Growth Concealed Balance-Sheet Risks
Several economies at the center of the 1997 Asian financial crisis were considered development successes just before capital…
Why the Marshall Plan Also Opened Markets for American Industry
Foreign aid can benefit a donor's economy while helping recipients recover. The Marshall Plan offers a historical example.…
What St. Louis Fed Officials Could See at the End of 1929
National narratives of the Wall Street crash tend to focus on New York trading floors. A regional Federal…
A January 1930 Business Report Shows How Economic Data Arrived Too Late
What could an analyst know in January 1930, just months after Wall Street's October collapse? The Commerce Department's…
The 2008 Commercial-Paper Freeze Showed Why Ordinary Companies Need Financial Markets
Financial crises do not remain confined to banks and traders. Many large businesses use commercial paper—short-term unsecured debt—to…
Before the 1997 Asian Crisis, Fast Growth Concealed Balance-Sheet Risks
Several economies at the center of the 1997 Asian financial crisis were considered development successes just before capital…
Why the Marshall Plan Also Opened Markets for American Industry
Foreign aid can benefit a donor's economy while helping recipients recover. The Marshall Plan offers a historical example.…
What St. Louis Fed Officials Could See at the End of 1929
National narratives of the Wall Street crash tend to focus on New York trading floors. A regional Federal…
A January 1930 Business Report Shows How Economic Data Arrived Too Late
What could an analyst know in January 1930, just months after Wall Street's October collapse? The Commerce Department's…
The 2008 Commercial-Paper Freeze Showed Why Ordinary Companies Need Financial Markets
Financial crises do not remain confined to banks and traders. Many large businesses use commercial paper—short-term unsecured debt—to…
Before the 1997 Asian Crisis, Fast Growth Concealed Balance-Sheet Risks
Several economies at the center of the 1997 Asian financial crisis were considered development successes just before capital…
A January 1930 Business Report Shows How Economic Data Arrived Too Late
What could an analyst know in January 1930, just months after Wall Street's October collapse? The Commerce Department's…
What St. Louis Fed Officials Could See at the End of 1929
National narratives of the Wall Street crash tend to focus on New York trading floors. A regional Federal…
Why the Marshall Plan Also Opened Markets for American Industry
Foreign aid can benefit a donor's economy while helping recipients recover. The Marshall Plan offers a historical example.…
Economy
See all →The 2008 Commercial-Paper Freeze Showed Why Ordinary Companies Need Financial Markets
Financial crises do not remain confined to banks and traders. Many large businesses use commercial paper—short-term unsecured debt—to…
Markets
See all →Bear Stearns in March 2008: When a Securities Firm Ran Out of Funding
Bear Stearns was a major securities firm with substantial assets, yet in March 2008 it faced an acute…
Energy & Commodities
See all →The Second Oil Shock of 1979: Why Energy Inflation Became Harder to Contain
The oil shock of 1978–79 arrived when the United States was still dealing with inflationary expectations from earlier…
Why Oil Importers Promised Not to Fight the 1974 Energy Crisis With Trade Barriers
A sharp rise in imported oil prices gave consumer countries a powerful incentive to protect their trade balances.…
The 1973 Oil Shock Was a Supply Shock and a Monetary-Policy Test
The 1973–74 oil crisis exposed how quickly an imported input can disrupt prices, production and international payments. Oil…
Real Estate
See all →The Savings-and-Loan Crisis Began With an Interest-Rate Mismatch
How Subprime Lending Expanded Before the 2007 Mortgage Crisis
Why Mortgage Securitization Spread Credit Risk Without Eliminating It
The 2008 Foreclosure Spiral: How Falling Home Prices Reduced Demand for Homes
Personal Finance
See all →Why the Early-1980s Disinflation Hurt Borrowers Before Prices Stabilized
The early-1980s fight against US inflation is remembered for eventual price stability. Its short-run costs were uneven. Households…
Federal Deposit Insurance in 1934: What the Original $2,500 Limit Signaled
Federal deposit insurance began in January 1934 with an initial limit of $2,500 per depositor. That figure now…