An incisive, unconventional assessment of general equilibrium theory; with a previously unpublished paper. Fischer Black is known for his brilliance as well as his sometimes controversial opinions. Highly respected for his scholarly writings in finance, he now moves into different territory with this incisive, unconventional assessment of general equilibrium theory and what that theory reveals about business cycles, growth, and labor economics. The general equilibrium approach, Black asserts, can be used to explain most of the economy's behavior. It can explain business cycles and growth without using sticky prices, irrationality, economies of scale, or imperfect competition. It can explain the volatility of consumption, output, sales, investment, and inventories with axiomatic utility and constant-returns-to-scale production. It can explain temporary layoffs, job changes with and without intervening unemployment, and the behavior of vacancies. It can explain lower wages in part-time jobs, wages that increase rapidly with time on the job, and the forces that cause migration from poor to rich countries. Although the general equilibrium approach can't be tested in conventional ways, it can be used to generate examples that explain stylized facts-generalized observations from the real world-that have preoccupied macroeconomists for the last decade. Black contrasts his interpretation of these facts with conventional interpretations. Finally, he reviews a substantial body of literature on these topics.

A thoroughly revised and updated edition of a textbook for graduate students in finance, with new coverage of global financial institutions. This thoroughly revised and updated edition of a widely used textbook for graduate students in finance now provides expanded coverage of global financial institutions, with detailed comparisons of U.S. systems with non-U.S. systems. A focus on the actual practices of financial institutions prepares students for real-world problems. After an introduction to financial markets and market participants, including asset management firms, credit rating agencies, and investment banking firms, the book covers risks and asset pricing, with a new overview of risk; the structure of interest rates and interest rate and credit risks; the fundamentals of primary and secondary markets; government debt markets, with new material on non-U.S. sovereign debt markets; corporate funding markets, with new coverage of small and medium enterprises and entrepreneurial ventures; residential and commercial real estate markets; collective investment vehicles, in a chapter new to this edition; and financial derivatives, including financial futures and options, interest rate derivatives, foreign exchange derivatives, and credit risk transfer vehicles such as credit default swaps. Each chapter begins with learning objectives and ends with bullet point takeaways and questions.

A new edition of a book presenting a unified framework for studying the role of money and liquid assets in the economy, revised and updated. In Money, Payments, and Liquidity, Guillaume Rocheteau and Ed Nosal provide a comprehensive investigation into the economics of money, liquidity, and payments by explicitly modeling the mechanics of trade and its various frictions (including search, private information, and limited commitment). Adopting the last generation of the New Monetarist framework developed by Ricardo Lagos and Randall Wright, among others, Nosal and Rocheteau provide a dynamic general equilibrium framework to examine the frictions in the economy that make money and liquid assets play a useful role in trade. They discuss such topics as cashless economies; the properties of an asset that make it suitable to be used as a medium of exchange; the optimal monetary policy and the cost of inflation; the coexistence of money and credit; and the relationships among liquidity, asset prices, monetary policy; and the different measures of liquidity in over-the-counter markets. The second edition has been revised to reflect recent progress in the New Monetarist approach to payments and liquidity. Rocheteau and Nosal have added three new chapters: on unemployment and payments, on asset price dynamics and bubbles, and on crashes and recoveries in over-the-counter markets. The chapter on the role of money has been entirely rewritten, adopting a mechanism design approach. Other chapters have been revised and updated, with new material on credit economies under limited commitment, open-market operations and liquidity traps, and the limited pledgeability of assets under informational frictions.

Access to credit is an important means of providing people with the opportunity to make a better life for themselves. Loans are essential for most people who want to purchase a home, start a business, pay for college, or weather a spell of unemployment. Yet many people in poor and minority communities--regardless of their crediworthiness--find credit hard to come by, making the climb out of poverty extremely difficult. How dire are the lending markets in these communities and what can be done to improve access to credit for disadvantaged groups? In "Credit Markets for the Poor, editors Patrick Bolton and Howard Rosenthal and an expert team of economists, political scientists, and legal and business scholars tackle these questions with shrewd analysis and a wealth of empirical data. "Credit Markets for the Poor opens by examining what credit options are available to poor households. Economist John Caskey profiles how weak credit options force many working families into a disastrous cycle of short-term, high interest loans in order to sustain themselves between paychecks. Loic Sadoulet explores the reasons that community lending organizations, which have been so successful in developing countries, have failed in more advanced economies. He argues the obstacles that have inhibited community lending groups in industrialized countries--such as a lack of institutional credibility and the high cost of establishing lending networks--can be overcome if banks facilitate the community lending process and establish a system of repayment insurance. "Credit Markets for the Poor also examines how legal institutions affect the ability of the poor to borrow. Daniela Fabbri and Mario Padula argue thatwell-meaning provisions making it more difficult for lenders to collect on defaulted loans are actually doing a disservice to the poor in credit markets. They find that in areas with lax legal enforcement of debt agreements, credit markets for the poor are underdeveloped because lenders are unwilling to take risks on issuing credit or will do so only at exorbitant interest rates. Timothy Bates looks at programs that facilitate small-business development and finds that they have done little to reduce poverty. He argues that subsidized business creation programs may lure inexperienced households into entrepreneurship in areas where little profitable investment is possible, hence setting them up for failure. With clarity and insightful analysis, "Credit Markets for the Poor demonstrates how weak credit markets are impeding the social and economic mobility of the needy. By detailing the many disadvantages that improverished people face when seeking to borrow, this important new volume highlights a significant national problem and offers solutions for the future.

This quarterly guide is the ideal resource for accurate, unbiased ratings and data to help citizens across the United States choose a credit union for themselves, their families, their companies, or their clients. Credit unions provide a viable and sometimes preferable alternative to banks across the nation, with lower interest rates on loans and higher returns on savings accounts. Additionally, credit unions enjoy nonprofit status and are governed by depositors, giving members more of a say in their institution's operation. Many U.S. consumers remain unaware of the benefits of credit unions over banks; luckily, Weiss Ratings' Guide to Credit Unions is here to help users select the right credit union for them. Grey House's Financial Ratings Series combines the strength of Weiss Ratings and TheStreet Ratings to offer the public a single, comprehensive source for financial strength ratings and financial planning tools. From health insurers to banks and credit unions to stocks and mutual funds, the Financial Ratings Series provides accurate, independent information that consumers need to make informed financial decisions. All of Weiss Ratings' Guides are published quarterly, utilize a clear-cut A-to-F rating system (similar to school grading systems), and contain more complete, up-to-date ratings than any of their competitors.

This quarterly guide is the ideal resource for accurate, unbiased ratings and data to help citizens across the United States choose a credit union for themselves, their families, their companies, or their clients. Credit unions provide a viable and sometimes preferable alternative to banks across the nation, with lower interest rates on loans and higher returns on savings accounts. Additionally, credit unions enjoy nonprofit status and are governed by depositors, giving members more of a say in their institution's operation. Many U.S. consumers remain unaware of the benefits of credit unions over banks; luckily, Weiss Ratings' Guide to Credit Unions is here to help users select the right credit union for them. Grey House's Financial Ratings Series combines the strength of Weiss Ratings and TheStreet Ratings to offer the public a single, comprehensive source for financial strength ratings and financial planning tools. From health insurers to banks and credit unions to stocks and mutual funds, the Financial Ratings Series provides accurate, independent information that consumers need to make informed financial decisions. All of Weiss Ratings' Guides are published quarterly, utilize a clear-cut A-to-F rating system (similar to school grading systems), and contain more complete, up-to-date ratings than any of their competitors. This Spring 2016 edition of Weiss Ratings' Guide to Credit Unions features ratings and analyses of over 7,800 credit unions in the United States. Many of these companies are not rated anywhere else.

In today's world of electronic cash transfers, automated teller machines, and credit cards, the image of the musty, junk-laden pawnshop seems a relic of the past. But it is not. The 1980s witnessed a tremendous boom in pawnbroking. There are now more pawnshops than ever before in U.S. history, and they are found not only in large cities but in towns and suburbs throughout the nation. As John Caskey demonstrates in Fringe Banking, the increased public patronage of both pawnshops and commercial check-cashing outlets signals the growing number of American households now living on a cash-only basis, with no connection to any mainstream credit facilities or banking services. Fringe Banking is the first comprehensive study of pawnshops and check-cashing outlets, profiling their operations, customers, and recent growth from family-owned shops to such successful outlet chains as Cash American and ACE America's Cash Express. It explains why, despite interest rates and fees substantially higher than those of banks, their use has so dramatically increased. According to Caskey, declining family earnings, changing family structures, a growing immigrant population, and lack of household budgeting skills has greatly reduced the demand for bank deposit services among millions of Americans. In addition, banks responded to 1980s regulatory changes by increasing fees on deposit accounts with small balances and closing branches in many poor urban areas. These factors combined to leave many low- and moderate-income families without access to checking privileges, credit services, and bank loans. Pawnshops and check-cashing outlets provide such families with essential financial services thay cannot obtain elsewhere. Caskey notes that fringe banks, particularly check-cashing outlets, are also utilized by families who could participate in the formal banking system, but are willing to pay more for convenience and quick access to cash. Caskey argues that, contrary to their historical reputation as predators milking the poor and desperate, pawnshops and check-cashing outlets play a key financial role for disadvantaged groups. Citing the inconsistent and often unenforced state laws currently governing the industry, Fringe Banking challenges policy makers to design regulations that will allow fringe banks to remain profitable without exploiting the customers who depend on them.

Puncturing the myth of the seamy storefront stocked with stolen watches and overseen by a shifty proprietor, "In Hock" reveals that pawnshops have long played an integral role in Americans' economic lives. The definitive history of pawn-broking in the United States from the nation's founding through the Great Depression, this volume demonstrates that the practice was inextricably intertwined with the rise of capitalism. The class of working poor begotten by this economic tide could make ends meet, Wendy A. Woloson argues, only by regularly visiting pawnshops to supplement their inadequate wages. Nonetheless, businessmen, reformers, and cultural critics berated the shops for promoting vice and used anti-Semitic stereotypes to cast their proprietors as greedy and cold-hearted. Parsing and subverting these caricatures, Woloson shows that pawnbrokers were in fact shrewd businessmen, often from humble origins, who honed sophisticated knowledge of a wide range of goods and their values in different markets. In the process, she paints a resonant portrait of the generations of Americans whose struggle for economic survival often depended on an institution that has remained, until now, woefully misunderstood.

"With the publication of this volume, knowledge and understanding of the practices of delivering micro-credit reach a new level of consolidation, and the stage is set for important further steps."--from the Foreword by Richard P. Taub, University of Chicago

Microfinance was pioneered in the developing world as the lending of small amounts of money to entrepreneurs who lacked the kinds of credentials and collateral demanded by banks. Similar practices spread from the developing to the developed world, reversing the usual direction of innovation, and today several hundred microfinance institutions are operating in the United States.

"Replicating Microfinace in the United States" reviews experiences in both developing and industrialized countries and extends the applications of microlending beyond enterprise to consumer finance, housing finance, and community development finance, concentrating especially on previously underserved households and their communities.

Contributors include Nitin Bhatt, Robert M. Buckley, Bruce Ferguson, Elinor Haider, Chi-kan Richard Hung, Sally R. Merrill, Jonathan Morduch, Gary Painter, Sohini Sarkar, Mark Schreiner, Lisa Servon, Ayse Can Talen, Shui-Yan Tang, Kenneth Temkin, Andres Vinelli, J. D. Von Pischke and Marc A. Weiss.

"Replicating Microfinance in the United States" is based on papers commissioned by the Fannie Mae Foundation and findings from an October 2001 conference jointly held by the Fannie Mae Foundation and Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars in Washington, D.C.

"With the publication of this volume, knowledge and understanding of the practices of delivering micro-credit reach a new level of consolidation, and the stage is set for important further steps."--from the Foreword by Richard P. Taub, University of Chicago

Microfinance was pioneered in the developing world as the lending of small amounts of money to entrepreneurs who lacked the kinds of credentials and collateral demanded by banks. Similar practices spread from the developing to the developed world, reversing the usual direction of innovation, and today several hundred microfinance institutions are operating in the United States.

"Replicating Microfinace in the United States" reviews experiences in both developing and industrialized countries and extends the applications of microlending beyond enterprise to consumer finance, housing finance, and community development finance, concentrating especially on previously underserved households and their communities.

Contributors include Nitin Bhatt, Robert M. Buckley, Bruce Ferguson, Elinor Haider, Chi-kan Richard Hung, Sally R. Merrill, Jonathan Morduch, Gary Painter, Sohini Sarkar, Mark Schreiner, Lisa Servon, Ayse Can Talen, Shui-Yan Tang, Kenneth Temkin, Andres Vinelli, J. D. Von Pischke and Marc A. Weiss.

"Replicating Microfinance in the United States" is based on papers commissioned by the Fannie Mae Foundation and findings from an October 2001 conference jointly held by the Fannie Mae Foundation and Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars in Washington, D.C.

An institutional investor's guide to the burgeoning field of reverse mortgage securitization

"Reverse Mortgages and Linked Securities" is a contributed title comprising many of the leading minds in the Home Equity Conversion Mortgages (HECM) industry, including reverse mortgage lenders, institutional investors, underwriters, attorneys, and regulators.

This book begins with a brief history of reverse mortgages, and quickly moves on to discuss how the industry has evolved-detailing the players in these markets as well as the process. It discusses the securitization of reverse mortgages and other linked securities and includes coverage of pricing techniques and risk mitigation. This reliable resource also takes the time to cover the current regulatory environment of the HECM market, which is constantly changing due to the current state of the real estate market.Highlights specific strategies that will allow institutional investors to benefit from the resurgence of reverse mortgages and linked securities""One of the only guides to reverse mortgages and linked securities targeted towards institutional investors interested in securitized products

If you want to make the most of reverse mortgages and linked securities, take the time to read this book.

Recent crises in emerging markets have been heavily driven by balance-sheet or net-worth effects. Episodes in countries as far-flung as Indonesia and Argentina have shown that exchange rate adjustments that would normally help to restore balance can be destabilizing, even catastrophic, for countries whose debts are denominated in foreign currencies. Many economists instinctually assume that developing countries allow their foreign debts to be denominated in dollars, yen, or euros because they simply don't know better.
Presenting evidence that even emerging markets with strong policies and institutions experience this problem, "Other People's Money" recognizes that the situation must be attributed to more than ignorance. Instead, the contributors suggest that the problem is linked to the operation of international financial markets which prevents countries from borrowing in their own currencies. That emerging markets have failed to bring this problem upon themselves is why Barry Eichengreen and Ricardo Hausmann describe it as "original sin." A comprehensive analysis of the sources of this problem and its consequences, "Other People's Money" takes the study one step further, proposing a solution that would involve having the World Bank and regional development banks themselves borrow and lend in emerging market currencies.
Painstakingly researched, this volume combines case studies, mathematical analysis, historical analysis, and public policy to provide students, economists, policymakers, and others with a state-of-the art overview of the debt denomination problem and its potential solutions.