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On the origins of the BIS macro-prudential approach to financial stability: Alexandre Lamfalussy and financial fragility

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  • Ivo Maes

    (National Bank of Belgium, Research Department
    Université catholique de Louvain, Robert Triffin Chair
    HUBrussel
    ICHEC Brussels Management School)

Abstract

Among the international policy institutions, the Bank for International Settlements (BIS) is known for its sensitivity to financial stability issues. Attention to the "macro-prudential" dimension of financial stability is very typical for the BIS. The Bank's macro-prudential approach first came to the fore in the 1986 Cross Report. It defined the macro-prudential domain as "the safety and soundness of the broad financial system and payments mechanism". In this paper, it will be argued that Alexandre Lamfalussy, who was at the BIS from 1976 to 1993, played a crucial role in shaping the Bank's approach to financial stability. Lamfalussy is renowned for taking a broad macroeconomic view and for focusing on the systemically important financial institutions, as the failure of one of these individual institutions would threaten the whole financial system. In Lamfalussy's view, there is thus very much an overlap between the micro- and macro-prudential dimensions of financial stability. This paper traces Lamfalussy's analysis of financial fragility and goes into the reasons for his sensitivity to it. Among the main elements involved were: a "Keynesian" Weltanschauung (that a market economy is not sufficiently self-correcting); the emphasis of Dupriez (his teacher in Louvain) on cycles; Lamfalussy's own experience as a commercial banker; BIS involvement in financial stability issues, especially the Latin American debt crisis of 1982-83; and research in the central banking community on financial innovations in the early 1980s

Suggested Citation

  • Ivo Maes, 2009. "On the origins of the BIS macro-prudential approach to financial stability: Alexandre Lamfalussy and financial fragility," Working Paper Research 176, National Bank of Belgium.
    • Handle: RePEc:nbb:reswpp:200910-09
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Cited by:

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    2. Claudio Borio, 2013. "The Great Financial Crisis: Setting priorities for new statistics," Journal of Banking Regulation, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 14(3-4), pages 306-317, July.
    3. Ibrocevic, Edin & Thiemann, Matthias, 2018. "All economic ideas are equal, but some are more equal than others: A differentiated perspective on macroprudential ideas and their implementation," SAFE Working Paper Series 214, Leibniz Institute for Financial Research SAFE.
    4. Piet Clement, 2010. "The term “macroprudential”: origins and evolution," BIS Quarterly Review, Bank for International Settlements, March.
    5. André Cartapanis, 2011. "La crise financière et les politiques macroprudentielles. Inflexion réglementaire ou nouveau paradigme ?," Revue économique, Presses de Sciences-Po, vol. 62(3), pages 349-382.
    6. Gibson, Heather D. & Hall, Stephen G. & Tavlas, George S., 2018. "Measuring systemic vulnerability in European banking systems," Journal of Financial Stability, Elsevier, vol. 36(C), pages 279-292.
    7. Claudio Borio, 2011. "The financial crisis: what implications for new statistics?," IFC Bulletins chapters, in: Bank for International Settlements (ed.), Proceedings of the IFC Conference on "Initiatives to address data gaps revealed by the financial crisis", Basel, 25-26 August 2010, volume 34, pages 1-8, Bank for International Settlements.
    8. Ebrahimi Kahou, Mahdi & Lehar, Alfred, 2017. "Macroprudential policy: A review," Journal of Financial Stability, Elsevier, vol. 29(C), pages 92-105.
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    10. Heather D. Gibson & Stephen G. Hall & George S. Tavlas, 2016. "Measuring Systemic Stress in European Banking Systems," Discussion Papers in Economics 16/19, Division of Economics, School of Business, University of Leicester.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Lamfalussy; BIS; macro-prudential; systemic stability; financial fragility; risk;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • A11 - General Economics and Teaching - - General Economics - - - Role of Economics; Role of Economists
    • B22 - Schools of Economic Thought and Methodology - - History of Economic Thought since 1925 - - - Macroeconomics
    • B32 - Schools of Economic Thought and Methodology - - History of Economic Thought: Individuals - - - Obituaries
    • E3 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Prices, Business Fluctuations, and Cycles
    • F02 - International Economics - - General - - - International Economic Order and Integration
    • G10 - Financial Economics - - General Financial Markets - - - General (includes Measurement and Data)
    • N10 - Economic History - - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics; Industrial Structure; Growth; Fluctuations - - - General, International, or Comparative

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