About the AEA Committees Honors & Awards For Graduate Students For Undergrad Students News & Notes Officers General Information Minutes UA Questionnaire Continuing Education Directory of Members Call for Papers Media

AEJ: Applied Economics AEJ: Economic Policy AEJ: Macroeconomics AEJ: Microeconomics American Economic Review Journal of Economic Literature Journal of Economic Perspectives eTOCs Virtual Field Journals Institutional Subscriptions AEA Journals on JSTOR Ads in Journals Back Issues Order Forms Copyright & Permissions

Submissions Registration/Housing Preliminary Program Annual Meeting Papers Annual Meeting Webcasts Disclosure Code Information Exhibitors Exhibitors & Advertisers Forms Special Events Form Continuing Education Econ-Harmony

EconLit Desktop Link EconLit for Members JEL Codes Guide JEL Classifications Journal List Contacts/Corrections Upcoming Exhibits Document Types Search Hints

JOE Listings Submit a JOE Listing Job Market Signaling Job Market Scramble Resources For Economists RFE Abridged Contents RFE Search RFE Conferences Econ Search Engine

Member Login Become a Member Directory of Members EconLit for Members AEA Journals on JSTOR Econ-Harmony Annual Meeting Webcasts Browse JEL Indexes Virtual Field Journals Institutional Subscriptions

Journal of Economic Perspectives

Search:

AEA Member Login:

Quick Tools:

View Full Text of This Article

Email Link to this Article Export Citation

Post a Comment on this Article (AEA Members Only)

View Comments on this Article

Article Abstract and Tools

Subscription Information
(Institutional Administrator Access)

Explore:

JEP - Previous Issues
JEP - Winter 2009

JEL Indexes (Members Only)

Journal of Economic Perspectives

Vol. 23, No. 1, Winter 2009

Crisis and Responses: The Federal Reserve in the Early Stages of the Financial Crisis Stephen G. Cecchetti
Article Citation
Cecchetti, Stephen G. 2009. "Crisis and Responses: The Federal Reserve in the Early Stages of the Financial Crisis." Journal of Economic Perspectives, 23(1): 51–75.
DOI:10.1257/jep.23.1.51
Abstract
Realizing that their traditional instruments were inadequate for responding to the crisis that began on August 9, 2007, Federal Reserve officials improvised. Beginning in mid-December 2007, they implemented a series of changes directed at ensuring that liquidity would be distributed to those institutions that needed it most. Conceptually, this meant America's central bankers shifted from focusing solely on the size of their balance sheet, which they use to keep the overnight interbank lending rate close to their chosen target, to manipulating the composition of their assets as well. In this paper, I examine the Federal Reserve's conventional and unconventional responses to the financial crisis of 2007-2008.

Article Full-Text Access

Full-Text Article (Complimentary)

JEP Discussion Forum

View Comments on This Article (0) | Post A Comment on This Article (AEA Members)

Authors

Cecchetti, Stephen G. (Bank for International Settlements)

JEL Classifications

E32: Business Fluctuations; Cycles
E52: Monetary Policy
E58: Central Banks and Their Policies
G21: Banks; Other Depository Institutions; Micro Finance Institutions; Mortgages
G28: Financial Institutions and Services: Government Policy and Regulation