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The daily and policy-relevant liquidity effects

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  • Daniel L. Thornton

Abstract

In an environment of low inflation, the Federal Reserve faces the risk that it has not provided enough monetary stimulus even when it has pushed the short-term nominal interest rate to its lower bound of zero. Assuming the nominal Treasury-bill rate has been lowered to zero, this paper considers whether further open market purchases of Treasury bills could spur aggregate demand through increases in the monetary base that may stimulate aggregate demand by increasing liquidity for financial intermediaries and households; by affecting expectations of the future paths of short-term interest rates, inflation, and asset prices; or by stimulating bank lending through the credit channel. This paper also examines the alternative policy tools that are available to the Federal Reserve in theory, and notes the practical limitations imposed by the Federal Reserve Act, The tools the Federal Reserve has at its disposal include open market purchases of Treasury bonds and private-sector credit instruments (at least those that may be purchased by the Federal Reserve); unsterilized and sterilized intervention in foreign exchange; lending through the discount window; and, perhaps in some circumstances, the use of options.

Suggested Citation

  • Daniel L. Thornton, 2007. "The daily and policy-relevant liquidity effects," Working Papers 2007-001, Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis.
  • Handle: RePEc:fip:fedlwp:2007-001
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    Cited by:

    1. Thornton, Daniel L., 2014. "Monetary policy: Why money matters (and interest rates don’t)," Journal of Macroeconomics, Elsevier, vol. 40(C), pages 202-213.
    2. Abbassi, Puriya & Nautz, Dieter, 2012. "Monetary transmission right from the start: On the information content of the Eurosystem's main refinancing operations," The North American Journal of Economics and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 23(1), pages 54-69.
    3. Signe Krogstrup & Dr. Samuel Reynard & Barbara Sutter, 2012. "Liquidity Effects of Quantitative Easing on Long-Term Interest Rates," Working Papers 2012-02, Swiss National Bank.
    4. Morgunov, V.I. (Моргунов, В.И.), 2016. "The Liquidity Management of the Banking Sector and the Short-Term Money Market Interest Rates [Управление Ликвидностью Банковского Сектора И Краткосрочной Процентной Ставкой Денежного Рынка]," Working Papers 21311, Russian Presidential Academy of National Economy and Public Administration.
    5. Mr. Jerome Vandenbussche & Mr. Stanley B Watt & Szabolcs Blazsek, 2009. "The Liquidity and Liquidity Distribution Effects in Emerging Markets: The Case of Jordan," IMF Working Papers 2009/228, International Monetary Fund.
    6. J�rôme Vandenbussche & Szabolcs Blazsek & Stanley Watt, 2012. "The liquidity and liquidity distribution effects in emerging markets: evidence from Jordan," Applied Financial Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 22(3), pages 231-242, February.
    7. Olav Syrstad, 2012. "The daily liquidity effect in a floor system – Empirical evidence from the Norwegian market," Working Paper 2012/14, Norges Bank.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Liquidity (Economics); Monetary policy;

    JEL classification:

    • E40 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Money and Interest Rates - - - General
    • E52 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Monetary Policy, Central Banking, and the Supply of Money and Credit - - - Monetary Policy

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