Research
The Fama Portfolio
2017. University of Chicago Press. Edited with Toby Moskowitz. Collection of Gene Fama papers, with introductions by myself, Toby, Ken French, Bill Schwert, René Stulz, Cliff Asness, John Liew, Ray Ball, Dennis Carlton, Cam Harvey, Lan Liu, Amit Seru and Amir Sufi. The introductions explain why the papers are so important and how we think about the issues today. My essays are here, other essays may be on other authors' webpages. For everything else you'll have to buy the book or e book. My essays (most joint with Toby):
Preface;
Efficient Markets and Empirical Finance;
Luck vs. Skill;
Risk and Return;
Return Forecasts and Time Varying Risk Premiums;
Our Colleague.
2017. University of Chicago Press. Edited with Toby Moskowitz. Collection of Gene Fama papers, with introductions by myself, Toby, Ken French, Bill Schwert, René Stulz, Cliff Asness, John Liew, Ray Ball, Dennis Carlton, Cam Harvey, Lan Liu, Amit Seru and Amir Sufi. The introductions explain why the papers are so important and how we think about the issues today. My essays are here, other essays may be on other authors' webpages. For everything else you'll have to buy the book or e book. My essays (most joint with Toby):
Preface;
Efficient Markets and Empirical Finance;
Luck vs. Skill;
Risk and Return;
Return Forecasts and Time Varying Risk Premiums;
Our Colleague.
Macro-Finance
2017. Review of Finance 21(3): 945-985. Links: Publisher (doi) , Last manuscript. This is a review paper. I survey many current frameworks including habits, long run risks, idiosyncratic risks, heterogenous preferences, rare disasters, probability mistakes, and debt or institutional finance. I stress how all these approaches produce quite similar results and mechanisms: the market's ability to bear risk varies over time, with business cycles. I speculate with some simple models that time-varying risk premiums can produce a theory of risk-averse recessions, produced by varying risk aversion and precautionary saving, rather than Keynesian flow constraints or new-Keynesian intertemporal substitution. The July 2016 manuscript contains a long section with thoughts on how to make a macro model based on time varying risk premiums, that got cut from the above final version. (This is the "manuscript" referenced in the paper.) The Data and programs (zip, matlab). The slides for the talk. A very nice post on the Review of Finance Blog summarizing the paper, by Alex Edmans, the editor. Typo: equation (17) is wrong. The same equation, (3) is right.
2017. Review of Finance 21(3): 945-985. Links: Publisher (doi) , Last manuscript. This is a review paper. I survey many current frameworks including habits, long run risks, idiosyncratic risks, heterogenous preferences, rare disasters, probability mistakes, and debt or institutional finance. I stress how all these approaches produce quite similar results and mechanisms: the market's ability to bear risk varies over time, with business cycles. I speculate with some simple models that time-varying risk premiums can produce a theory of risk-averse recessions, produced by varying risk aversion and precautionary saving, rather than Keynesian flow constraints or new-Keynesian intertemporal substitution. The July 2016 manuscript contains a long section with thoughts on how to make a macro model based on time varying risk premiums, that got cut from the above final version. (This is the "manuscript" referenced in the paper.) The Data and programs (zip, matlab). The slides for the talk. A very nice post on the Review of Finance Blog summarizing the paper, by Alex Edmans, the editor. Typo: equation (17) is wrong. The same equation, (3) is right.
A New Structure for U.S. Federal Debt
November 2015 In David Wessel, Ed., The $13 Trillion Question: Managing the U.S. Government's Debt, pp. 91-146. Washington DC: Brookings Institution Press. Last manuscript. I propose a restructuring of U. S. Federal debt. All debt should be perpetual, paying coupons forever with no principal payment. The debt should be composed of 1) Fixed-value, floating-rate, electronically transferable debt. Such debt looks like a money-market fund, or reserves at the Fed, to an investor. 2) Nominal perpetuities: This debt pays a coupon of $1 per bond, forever. 3) Indexed perpetuities: This debt pays a coupon of $1 times the current consumer price index (CPI). 4) All debt should be free of income, estate, capital gains, and other taxes. 5) long term debt should have explicitly variable coupons. 6) Swaps. The Treasury should adjust maturity structure, interest rate and inflation exposure of the Federal budget by transacting in simple swaps among these securities.
November 2015 In David Wessel, Ed., The $13 Trillion Question: Managing the U.S. Government's Debt, pp. 91-146. Washington DC: Brookings Institution Press. Last manuscript. I propose a restructuring of U. S. Federal debt. All debt should be perpetual, paying coupons forever with no principal payment. The debt should be composed of 1) Fixed-value, floating-rate, electronically transferable debt. Such debt looks like a money-market fund, or reserves at the Fed, to an investor. 2) Nominal perpetuities: This debt pays a coupon of $1 per bond, forever. 3) Indexed perpetuities: This debt pays a coupon of $1 times the current consumer price index (CPI). 4) All debt should be free of income, estate, capital gains, and other taxes. 5) long term debt should have explicitly variable coupons. 6) Swaps. The Treasury should adjust maturity structure, interest rate and inflation exposure of the Federal budget by transacting in simple swaps among these securities.
After the ACA: Freeing the market for health care
In The Future of Healthcare Reform in the United States Edited by Anup Malani and Michael H. Schill, p 161-201, University of Chicago Press. An essay on health care, first presented at the conference, The Future of Health Care Reform in the United States, at the University of Chicago Law School. Most of the policy discussion is focused on health insurance. But the health care market is dysfuctional, and needs to be fixed as well. Where are the Southwest Airlines, Walmart and Apple of health care, bringing cost saving, efficiency, and innovation? I argue that we need a big freeing up of health care markets. I also focus more than usual on supply restrictions. It doesn't do much good for people to pay with their own money if suppliers cannot respond to that demand. Last manuscript in case of copyright problems with the published version above.
In The Future of Healthcare Reform in the United States Edited by Anup Malani and Michael H. Schill, p 161-201, University of Chicago Press. An essay on health care, first presented at the conference, The Future of Health Care Reform in the United States, at the University of Chicago Law School. Most of the policy discussion is focused on health insurance. But the health care market is dysfuctional, and needs to be fixed as well. Where are the Southwest Airlines, Walmart and Apple of health care, bringing cost saving, efficiency, and innovation? I argue that we need a big freeing up of health care markets. I also focus more than usual on supply restrictions. It doesn't do much good for people to pay with their own money if suppliers cannot respond to that demand. Last manuscript in case of copyright problems with the published version above.
The Fragile Benefits of Endowment Destruction
November 2015. Journal of Political Economy 123(5) 1214-1226. With John Y. Campbell. (JSTOR / JPE Link.) A rejoinder to Ljungqvist and Uhlig "Comment on the Campbell-Cochrane Habit Model" (formerly titled "Optimal Endowment Destruction under Campbell-Cochrane Habit Formation"). The benefits of endowment destruction depend sensitively on how you discretize the model. Lesson: It's better to use the the continuous time version and make sure discretizations make sense. There is a nice lesson on how to extend diffusion models to jumps too. Computer program.
November 2015. Journal of Political Economy 123(5) 1214-1226. With John Y. Campbell. (JSTOR / JPE Link.) A rejoinder to Ljungqvist and Uhlig "Comment on the Campbell-Cochrane Habit Model" (formerly titled "Optimal Endowment Destruction under Campbell-Cochrane Habit Formation"). The benefits of endowment destruction depend sensitively on how you discretize the model. Lesson: It's better to use the the continuous time version and make sure discretizations make sense. There is a nice lesson on how to extend diffusion models to jumps too. Computer program.
A Response to Sims (2013)
January 2015. Chris Sims' (2013) "Paper Money" seems to include a criticism of my "Determinacy and Identification with Taylor Rules." In fact, there is no fundamental disagreement between the two papers.
January 2015. Chris Sims' (2013) "Paper Money" seems to include a criticism of my "Determinacy and Identification with Taylor Rules." In fact, there is no fundamental disagreement between the two papers.
Toward a run-free financial system
November 4 2014. In Martin Neil Baily, John B. Taylor, eds., Across the Great Divide: New Perspectives on the Financial Crisis, Hoover Press. This is an essay about what I think we should do in place of current financial regulation. We had a run, so get rid of run-prone liabilities. Technology and financial innovation means we can overcome the standard objections to "narrow banking." Some fun ideas include a tax on debt rather than capital ratios, the Fed and Treasury should issue reserves to everyone and take over short-term debt markets just as they took over the banknote market in the 19th century, and downstream fallible vechicles can tranche up bank equity.
November 4 2014. In Martin Neil Baily, John B. Taylor, eds., Across the Great Divide: New Perspectives on the Financial Crisis, Hoover Press. This is an essay about what I think we should do in place of current financial regulation. We had a run, so get rid of run-prone liabilities. Technology and financial innovation means we can overcome the standard objections to "narrow banking." Some fun ideas include a tax on debt rather than capital ratios, the Fed and Treasury should issue reserves to everyone and take over short-term debt markets just as they took over the banknote market in the 19th century, and downstream fallible vechicles can tranche up bank equity.
Challenges for Cost-Benefit Analysis of Financial Regulation.
Journal of Legal Studies 43 S63-S105 (November 2014). Is cost benefit analysis a good idea for financial regulation? I survey the nature of costs and benefits of financial regulation and conclude that the legal process of current health, safety and environmental regulation can't be simply extended to financial regulation. I opine about how a successful cost-benefit process might work. My costs and benefits expanded to a rather critical survey of current financial regulation. It's based on a presentation I gave at a conference on this topic at the University of Chicago law school Fall 2013, with many interesting papers. JSTOR link with HTML and nicer pdf. The JLS issue with all conference papers.
Journal of Legal Studies 43 S63-S105 (November 2014). Is cost benefit analysis a good idea for financial regulation? I survey the nature of costs and benefits of financial regulation and conclude that the legal process of current health, safety and environmental regulation can't be simply extended to financial regulation. I opine about how a successful cost-benefit process might work. My costs and benefits expanded to a rather critical survey of current financial regulation. It's based on a presentation I gave at a conference on this topic at the University of Chicago law school Fall 2013, with many interesting papers. JSTOR link with HTML and nicer pdf. The JLS issue with all conference papers.
Monetary Policy with Interest on Reserves
Journal of Economic Dynamics & Control 49 (2014), 74-108. ( ScienceDirect link to published version, html and pdf) I analyze monetary policy with interest on reserves and a large balance sheet. I argue for the desirability of this regime on financial stability grounds. I show that conventional theories do not determine inflation in this regime, so I base the analysis on the fiscal theory of the price level. I find that monetary policy -- buying and selling government debt with no effect on surpluses -- can peg the nominal rate, and determine expected inflation. With sticky prices, monetary policy can also affect real interest rates and output, though not with the usual signs in this model. Figures 2 and 3 are the best part -- the effects of monetary policy with and without fiscal coordination. I address theoretical controversies, and how the fiscal backing of monetary policy was important for the 1980s disinflation. A concluding section reviews the role of central banks. Matlab program.
Journal of Economic Dynamics & Control 49 (2014), 74-108. ( ScienceDirect link to published version, html and pdf) I analyze monetary policy with interest on reserves and a large balance sheet. I argue for the desirability of this regime on financial stability grounds. I show that conventional theories do not determine inflation in this regime, so I base the analysis on the fiscal theory of the price level. I find that monetary policy -- buying and selling government debt with no effect on surpluses -- can peg the nominal rate, and determine expected inflation. With sticky prices, monetary policy can also affect real interest rates and output, though not with the usual signs in this model. Figures 2 and 3 are the best part -- the effects of monetary policy with and without fiscal coordination. I address theoretical controversies, and how the fiscal backing of monetary policy was important for the 1980s disinflation. A concluding section reviews the role of central banks. Matlab program.
A mean-variance benchmark for intertemporal portfolio theory
Journal of Finance, 69: 1–49. doi: 10.1111/jofi.12099 (February 2014) (link to JF) (Manuscript) Applies good old fashioned mean-variance portfolio analysis to the entire stream of dividends rather than to one-period returns. Long-Run Mean-Variance Analysis in a Diffusion Environment is a set of notes, detailing all the trouble you get in to if you try to apply long-run ideas to the standard iid lognormal environment, and also discusses shifting bliss points a bit.
Journal of Finance, 69: 1–49. doi: 10.1111/jofi.12099 (February 2014) (link to JF) (Manuscript) Applies good old fashioned mean-variance portfolio analysis to the entire stream of dividends rather than to one-period returns. Long-Run Mean-Variance Analysis in a Diffusion Environment is a set of notes, detailing all the trouble you get in to if you try to apply long-run ideas to the standard iid lognormal environment, and also discusses shifting bliss points a bit.
Finance: Function Matters, not Size
May 2013 Journal of Economic Perspectives 27, 29–50 JEP link (Previous title "Is Finance Too big?" December 2012.) Is finance "too big?" Is this the right question? .
May 2013 Journal of Economic Perspectives 27, 29–50 JEP link (Previous title "Is Finance Too big?" December 2012.) Is finance "too big?" Is this the right question? .
Financial Markets and the Real Economy
In Rajnish Mehra, Ed. Handbook of the Equity Premium Elsevier 2007, 237-325. Everything you wanted to know, about the equity premium, consumption-based models, investment-based models, general equilibrium in asset pricing, labor income and idiosyncratic risk. Click the title for more information.
In Rajnish Mehra, Ed. Handbook of the Equity Premium Elsevier 2007, 237-325. Everything you wanted to know, but didn’t have time to read, about equity premium, consumption-based models, investment-based models, general equilibrium in asset pricing, labor income and idiosyncratic risk.
This article appeared four times, getting better each time. (Why waste a good article by only publishing it once?) The link above is the last and the best. The previous versions were NBER Working paper 11193, Financial Markets and the Real Economy Volume 18 of the International Library of Critical Writings in Financial Economics, John H. Cochrane Ed., London: Edward Elgar. March 2006, and in Foundations and Trends in Finance 1, 1-101, 2005.
A Brief Parable of Overdifferencing
This is a short note, showing how money demand estimation works very well in levels or long (4 year) differences, but not when you first-difference the data. It shows why we often want to run OLS with corrected standard errors rather than GLS or ML, and it cautions against the massive differencing, fixed effects and controls used in micro data. It's from a PhD class, but I thought the reminder worth a little standalone note.
This is a short note, showing how money demand estimation works very well in levels or long (4 year) differences, but not when you first-difference the data. It shows why we often want to run OLS with corrected standard errors rather than GLS or ML, and it cautions against the massive differencing, fixed effects and controls used in micro data. It's from a PhD class, but I thought the reminder worth a little standalone note.
Inflation and Debt
National Affairs 9 (Fall 2011). html An essay summarizing the threat of inflation from large debt and deficits. The danger is best described as a "run on the dollar." Future deficits can lead to inflation today, which the Fed cannot control. I also talk about the conventional Keynesian (Fed) and monetarist views of inflation, and why they are not equipped to deal with the threat of deficits. This essay complements the academic (equations) "Understanding Policy" article (see below) and the Why the 2025 budget matters today WSJ oped (on oped page).
National Affairs 9 (Fall 2011). html An essay summarizing the threat of inflation from large debt and deficits. The danger is best described as a "run on the dollar." Future deficits can lead to inflation today, which the Fed cannot control. I also talk about the conventional Keynesian (Fed) and monetarist views of inflation, and why they are not equipped to deal with the threat of deficits. This essay complements the academic (equations) "Understanding Policy" article (see below) and the Why the 2025 budget matters today WSJ oped (on oped page).
Discount Rates
Joural of Finance 66, 1047-1108 (August 2011). My American Finance Association Presidential speech. The video (including gracious roast by Raghu Rajan) The slides. Data and programs (zip file) Price should equal expected discounted payoffs. Efficiency is about the expected part. The unifying theme of today's finance research is the discounted part -- characterizing and understanding discount-rate variation. The paper surveys facts, theories, and applications, mostly pointing to challenges for future research.
Joural of Finance 66, 1047-1108 (August 2011). My American Finance Association Presidential speech. The video (including gracious roast by Raghu Rajan) The slides. Data and programs (zip file) Price should equal expected discounted payoffs. Efficiency is about the expected part. The unifying theme of today's finance research is the discounted part -- characterizing and understanding discount-rate variation. The paper surveys facts, theories, and applications, mostly pointing to challenges for future research.
Determinacy and Identification with Taylor Rules
Journal of Political Economy, Vol. 119, No. 3 (June 2011), pp. 565-615. Online Appendix B. JSTOR link, including html, pdf, and online appendix. Manuscript with Technical Appendix The technical appendix documents a few calculations. Don't miss starting on Technical Appendix page 6 a full analytical solution to the standard three equation model. I include the manuscript just so equation references in the Technical Appendix will work, the previous links to the published version are better.
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Journal of Political Economy, Vol. 119, No. 3 (June 2011), pp. 565-615. Online Appendix B. JSTOR link, including html, pdf, and online appendix. Manuscript with Technical Appendix The technical appendix documents a few calculations. Don't miss starting on Technical Appendix page 6 a full analytical solution to the standard three equation model. I include the manuscript just so equation references in the Technical Appendix will work, the previous links to the published version are better.
Most people think Taylor rules stabilize inflation: Inflation rises, the Fed raises interest rates; this lowers “demand’’ and lowers future inflation. New-Keynesian models don’t work this way. In the models, the Fed reacts to inflation by setting interest rates in a way that ends up increasing future inflation. Inflation is “determined” as the unique initial value that doesn't set off accelerating inflation. Alas, there is nothing in economics to rule out accelerating inflation or deflation. I conclude that new-Keynesian models with Taylor rules don’t determine the price level any better than classic fixed interest rate targets. Price level determinacy requires ingredients beyond the Taylor principle, such as a non-Ricaridan fiscal regime. I survey the new-Keynesian literature to verify that no simple answer to this problem exists. All of the fixes slip in a commitment by the government to blow up the world at some point.
Even if the new-Keynesian model did work, The parameters of the Taylor rule relating interest rates to inflation and other variables are not identified. You can't measure "off equilibrium" behavior from data in an equilibrium. Thus, Taylor rule regressions cannot be used to argue that the Fed conquered inflation by moving from a "passive" to an "active" policy in the early 1980s.
The appendix uncovers an interesting mistake in the classic Obstfeld and Rogoff (1983) attempt to prune inflationary equilibria, but also shows that reversion to a price level target can do the trick. The Techical Appendix has algebra for determinacy regions and solutions of the three-equation New-Keynesian model, as well as other issues.
This article supersedes the two papers titled "Inflation Determination with Taylor Rules: A Critical Review"and "Identification with Taylor Rules: A Critical Review" (September 2007).
Understanding fiscal and monetary policy in the great recession: Some unpleasant fiscal arithmetic.
European Economic Review 55 2-30 ScienceDirect Link.
Why there was a big recession; will we face inflation or deflation, can the Fed do anything about it? Many facets of the current situation and policy make sense if you ask about joint fiscal and monetary policy. A fiscal inflation will look much different than most people think. Slides that go with the paper. Appendix with the algebra for government debt valuation equations. A short simple version, my presentation at the Fall NBER EFG conference. A video of a short presentation given to the University Alumni Club in New York, October 2010. Slides for the New York talk if you were there
European Economic Review 55 2-30 ScienceDirect Link.
Why there was a big recession; will we face inflation or deflation, can the Fed do anything about it? Many facets of the current situation and policy make sense if you ask about joint fiscal and monetary policy. A fiscal inflation will look much different than most people think. Slides that go with the paper. Appendix with the algebra for government debt valuation equations. A short simple version, my presentation at the Fall NBER EFG conference. A video of a short presentation given to the University Alumni Club in New York, October 2010. Slides for the New York talk if you were there
Lessons from the financial crisis
Jan 2010 Regulation 32(4), 34-37. The financial crisis is mainly about too big to fail expectations. The only way out is to limit the government’s authority to bail out.
Jan 2010 Regulation 32(4), 34-37. The financial crisis is mainly about too big to fail expectations. The only way out is to limit the government’s authority to bail out.
Can Learnability Save New-Keynesian Models?
Journal of Monetary Economics 56 (2009) 1109–1113. JME link .This is a response to Bennett McCallum’s “is the New-Keynesian Analysis Critically Flawed” which says yes. I think McCallum got it backwards -- the bounded equilibrium is not learnable, the explosive ones are learnable. Furthermore, I’m not convinced that a hypothetical threat by the Fed to take us to an “unlearnable” equilibrium is a satisfactory foundation for price level determination.
Journal of Monetary Economics 56 (2009) 1109–1113. JME link .This is a response to Bennett McCallum’s “is the New-Keynesian Analysis Critically Flawed” which says yes. I think McCallum got it backwards -- the bounded equilibrium is not learnable, the explosive ones are learnable. Furthermore, I’m not convinced that a hypothetical threat by the Fed to take us to an “unlearnable” equilibrium is a satisfactory foundation for price level determination.
Health-Status Insurance
Feb. 18 2009. In Cato's Policy Analysis No 633. If you get sick and lose health insurance you are stuck -- your premiums skyrocket or you may not be able to get insurance at all. The article shows how private markets can solve this problem. If you get sick, your health premiums go up but a separate "premium increase insurance contract" pays a lump sum so that you can afford the higher health premiums. The big advantage is freedom and competition: now health insurance can freely compete for all customers all the time. This piece is written for a nontechnical popular audience, with a lot of policy discussion. This paper explains the basic framework of Time-Consistent Health Insurance (next) and thinks through lots of real-world issues and answers to "what ifs." "What to do about pre-existing conditions" in the Wall Street Journal August 14 2009 and Health Status insurance Investors Business Daily (local link) April 2 2009 are op-eds explaining the basic idea.
Feb. 18 2009. In Cato's Policy Analysis No 633. If you get sick and lose health insurance you are stuck -- your premiums skyrocket or you may not be able to get insurance at all. The article shows how private markets can solve this problem. If you get sick, your health premiums go up but a separate "premium increase insurance contract" pays a lump sum so that you can afford the higher health premiums. The big advantage is freedom and competition: now health insurance can freely compete for all customers all the time. This piece is written for a nontechnical popular audience, with a lot of policy discussion. This paper explains the basic framework of Time-Consistent Health Insurance (next) and thinks through lots of real-world issues and answers to "what ifs." "What to do about pre-existing conditions" in the Wall Street Journal August 14 2009 and Health Status insurance Investors Business Daily (local link) April 2 2009 are op-eds explaining the basic idea.