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  • Working Paper No. 90 April 10, 1993

    Narrow Banks

    Kenneth Spong
    Abstract

    Recent banking problems have prompted a variety of proposals for reforming deposit insurance and the banking system. Nearly all of these proposals, however, suffer from a common flaw—they would fail to create a banking system that is both stable and free to respond to market forces and financial developments. Narrow banking offers a possible means […]

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  • Working Paper No. 89 April 01, 1993

    Profits for Economists

    Thomas Karier
    Abstract

    There is no single best estimate of profits because different purposes require measures. For example, profits in national income should be different than profits in financial statements. But given these differences, there are certain economic standards that should apply to all profit measures. These standards are described and then used to evaluate the appropriateness of […]

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  • Working Paper No. 88 March 10, 1993

    Limits of Prudential Supervision

    Bernard Shull
    Abstract

    Bank supervision typically receives little if any attention when banks are operating without difficulty. But when banks fail in large numbers, or large banks fail, and the system itself is threatened, supervision becomes a focal point for criticism and reform (see, for example, Conference Report, 1998, Title I, IX; Pecchioli, 1987, pp. 11 ff.; and […]

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  • Working Paper No. 87 March 09, 1993

    The Psychology of Risk

    Paul B. Andreassen
    Abstract

    Risk is commonly defined in negative terms-the probability of suffering a loss or factors and actions involving uncertain dangers or hazards. On the other hand, the term risk as used in the social sciences relies on simply the degree of uncertainty: It merely addresses how much variance exists among the possible outcomes associated with a […]

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  • Working Paper No. 86 March 08, 1993

    The Origins of Money and the Development of the Modern Financial System

    L. Randall Wray
    Abstract

    The origins of money and banking are explained in nearly every introduction money and banking course, but Wray proposes an alternative approach that emerges from a comparative analysis of economic institutions. Orthodox theory suggests that barter replaced self-sufficiency and increased efficiency by fostering specialization- subsequently, establishing some object as a medium of exchange permits greater […]

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  • Public Policy Brief No. 4 March 03, 1993

    Public Infrastructure Investment: A Bridge to Productivity Growth?

    David Alan Aschauer, and Douglas Holtz-Eakin
    Abstract

    This brief presents contrasting views on the effects of public infrastructure investment on private sector productivity. David Alan Aschauer states that the slower rate of productivity growth since the early 1970s—coupled with an aging population, the declining proportion of workers to the total population, and other demographic factors—poses a dilemma for policymakers interested in strengthening […]

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  • Working Paper No. 85 February 10, 1993

    The Relationship between Public and Private Investment

    Sharon J. Erenburg
    Abstract

    The relationship between government spending and aggregates such as output, employment, and prices has been the subject of many theoretical and empirical studies. Recently, however, interest has shifted to government spending on the provision of public capital (measured as fixed, nonresidential government capital) and various indicators of economic performance. Hence, government spending is now recognized […]

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  • Working Paper No. 84 February 07, 1993

    Migration of Talent

    Milind Rao
    Abstract

    In this paper, Rao tackles the reasons behind the increasing number and share of foreign students enrolled in Ph.D. economics programs in the U.S. The conventional argument of comparative advantage in U.S. graduate economics education fails to stand up under closer scrutiny. In addition to not explaining the actual and relative decline of American students […]

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  • Public Policy Brief No. 3 January 01, 1993

    Τραπεζικό σύστημα κοινοτικής ανάπτυξης

    Hyman P. Minsky, Dimitri B. Papadimitriou, Ronnie J. Phillips, and L. Randall Wray
    Abstract

    Το κείμενο προτείνει την εγκαθίδρυση ενός εθνικού συστήματος τραπεζών κοινοτικής ανάπτυξης για την προώθηση της κεφαλαιακής ανάπτυξης της οικονομίας. Η πρόταση βασίζεται στην άποψη ότι η υπάρχουσα χρηματοπιστωτική δομή είναι ιδιαίτερα αδύναμη όσον αφορά την εξυπηρέτηση ατόμων με χαμηλό εισόδημα, μειονότητες σε υποβαθμισμένες περιοχές του κέντρου και της πόλης, και μικρές και νεοσύστατες επιχειρήσεις. Οι […]

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  • Public Policy Brief No. 3 January 01, 1993

    Community Development Banking

    Hyman P. Minsky, Dimitri B. Papadimitriou, Ronnie J. Phillips, and L. Randall Wray
    Abstract

    This brief proposes that the establishment of a nationwide system of community development banks (CDBs) would advance the capital development of the economy. The proposal is based on the notion that a critical function of the financial system is not being adequately performed by existing institutions for low-income citizens, inner-city minorities, and entrepreneurs who seek […]

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  • Working Paper No. 83 December 01, 1992

    Community Development Banks

    Hyman P. Minsky, Dimitri B. Papadimitriou, Ronnie J. Phillips, and L. Randall Wray
    Abstract

    The Clinton/Gore proposal for the creation of a network of 100 community development banks (CDBs) to revitalize communities is bold, and will contribute to the success of the U.S. economy. Banks are essential institutions in any community, and the establishment of a bank is often a prerequisite for the investment process. For this reason, the […]

  • Working Paper No. 82 December 01, 1992

    Job Quality and Labor Market Segmentation in the 1980s

    Maury Gittleman, and David R. Howell
    Abstract

    The authors examine the effects of employment restructuring in the 1980s on white, black, and Hispanic men and women within a labor market segmentation framework. Cluster analysis is used to determine whether jobs can be grouped into a small number of relatively homogeneous clusters on the basis of differences in job quality. With data centered […]

  • Book Series November 01, 1992

    Financial Conditions and Macroeconomic Performance

    Steven M. Fazzari, and Dimitri B. Papadimitriou
    Abstract

    This collection of papers on financial instability and its impact on macroeconomic performance honors Hyman P. Minsky and his lifelong work. The papers consider the clear and disturbing sequence of events described in Minsky’s definitive analysis: boom, government intervention to prevent debt contraction, new boom that causes progressive buildup of new debt and eventually leaves […]

  • Public Policy Brief No. 2 September 10, 1992

    An Economic Assessment: Contained Depression or the Foothills of Recovery?

    Robert J. Barbera, and David A. Levy
    Abstract

    Robert Barbera and David A. Levy offer contrasting assessments of the United States’ economy during the late 1980s and early 1990s. Barbera suggests that the behavior of the economy was typical for the early part of a recessionary stage in a standard business cycle: policymakers and business leaders, believing the downturn to be temporary, prolong […]

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  • Working Paper No. 81 September 10, 1992

    The Impact of Profitability, Financial Fragility, and Competitive Regime Shifts on Investment Demand

    James R. Crotty, and Jonathan A. Goldstein
    Abstract

    Crotty and Goldstein have developed a hybrid post-Keynesian/ neo-Schumpeterian theory of investment demand. In this micro-founded theory of accumulation, the optimal investment decision depends on the level of expected profitability, the degree of competition, and the degree of financial fragility. Its core assumptions are: i)the future is unknowable in principle, ii) physical capital is ii) […]

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  • Working Paper No. 80 September 09, 1992

    Growth and Structural Change in China-US Trade

    Hong Wang
    Abstract

    Since the resumption of China-U.S. trade in 1972, and in particular since the establishment of diplomatic relations in early 1979, trade between the two countries has increased dramatically. By 1990, the United States was China’s third-largest trading partner, accounting for 10.2% of China’s total trade, 12.4% of Chinese imports, and 10.1% of total foreign investment. […]

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  • Working Paper No. 79 September 04, 1992

    The Investment Decision of the Post Keynesian Firm

    James R. Crotty, and Jonathan A. Goldstein
    Abstract

    In this paper, Crotty and Goldstein undertake the formulation of a model of enterprise investment decision that can provide a microeconomic foundation for the Keynes-Minsky macromodels developed by Delli Gatti & Gallegati, Jarsulic, Semmler and others. The authors address the difficulties inherent in the formulation of an investmes theory in which the future is unknowable, […]

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  • Working Paper No. 78 August 10, 1992

    The Predication Semantics Model

    Bruce K. Britton, Deborah McCutchen, and Paul B. Andreassen
    Abstract

    This paper presents and tests the predication semantics model, a computational model of text comprehension. It goes beyond previous case grammar approaches to text comprehension in employing a propositional rather than a rigid hierarchical tree notion, attempting to maintain a coherent set of propositions in working memory. The authors’ assertion is that predicate class contains […]

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  • Working Paper No. 77 July 10, 1992

    Credit Markets and Narrow Banking

    Ronnie J. Phillips
    Abstract

    Maurice Allais’s view that the credit created by fractional reserve banking is equivalent to counterfeiting has led him to recommend the separation of the depository and lending functions of banks. This proposal has recently been reintroduced by James Tobin and others under the term "narrow banking." Proponents cite the potential for enhanced safety of the […]

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  • Public Policy Brief No. 1 July 02, 1992

    Restructuring the Financial Structure

    Alex J. Pollock, and Anthony M. Solomon
    Abstract

    To avoid excessive concentration of economic and financial power, Athony M. Solomon recommends institutional and regulatory reform of the financial system by such means as nationwide banking, restrictions on federal deposit insurance, consolidation of financial regulation, balancing numerical standards with supervisory discretion, increased accountability of banks’ management boards, and leveling the playing field across institutions, […]

    Download Public Policy Brief No. 1, 1992 PDF (7.65 MB)
  • Working Paper No. 76 June 10, 1992

    The “Chicago Plan” and New Deal Banking Reform

    Ronnie J. Phillips
    Abstract

    During the 1930s, there were numerous proposals put forth to modify the financial system. The “Chicago Plan,” submitted in 1933 by economists at the University of Chicago, recommended abolition of the fractional reserve system and imposition of 100% reserves on demand deposits. Despite the radical nature of this proposal, Phillips argues that it played an […]

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  • Working Paper No. 75 June 01, 1992

    The Role of Unemployment in Triggering Internal Labor Migration

    George W. McCarthy
    Abstract

    George McCarthy’s paper explores the internal migration of labor in response to structural changes in the U.S. economy. He presents an empirical study of the relationship between wage determination and the migration decision co evaluate the role of both spiral wage differences and unemployment in motivating migration. Also, the paper assesses the relative homogeneity of […]

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  • Working Paper No. 74 May 10, 1992

    The Financial Instability Hypothesis

    Hyman P. Minsky
    Abstract

    The Financial Instability Hypothesis (FIH) has both empirical and theoretical aspects that challenge the classic precepts of Smith and Walras, who implied that the economy can be best understood by assuming that it is constantly an equilibrium-seeking and sustaining system. The theoretical argument of the FIH emerges from the characterization of the economy as a […]

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  • Working Paper No. 73 May 01, 1992

    Money, Growth, Distribution, and Prices in a Simple Sraffian Economy

    Milind Rao
    Abstract

    Rejecting neoclassical notions of supply and demand, Sraffa demonstrated that relative prices are determined by the profit rate. However, a Sraffa model fails to explicitly describe the determination of output, growth, and accumulation. Rao closes this model with a monetary sector, and examines the effects in both a Sraffian and a Classical world. Rao integrates […]

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Blithewood
Bard College
Annandale-on-Hudson, NY 12504-5000
845-758-7700
The Levy Economics Institute of Bard College, founded in 1986 through the generous support of Bard College trustee Leon Levy, is a nonprofit, nonpartisan, public policy research organization. The Levy Institute is independent of any political or other affiliation, and encourages diversity of opinion in the examination of economic policy issues while striving to transform ideological arguments into informed debate.