Financial Stability Paper No 10: Growing Fragilities? Balance Sheets in the Great Moderation

Richard Barwell and Oliver Burrows
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Richard Barwell: Bank of England, Postal: Publications Group Bank of England Threadneedle Street London EC2R 8AH
Oliver Burrows: Bank of England, Postal: Publications Group Bank of England Threadneedle Street London EC2R 8AH

No 10, Bank of England Financial Stability Papers from Bank of England

Abstract: The years leading up to the financial crisis are widely acclaimed as a period of remarkable, if not unprecedented, stability in the global economy. From a perspective that focuses on the value and volume of gross domestic product, that assessment is valid. The world’s major economies enjoyed a sustained period of growth. Inflation was low and stable. But from a perspective that focuses on the value of financial assets and on the volume of market activity, this period was anything but stable. The past decade has borne witness to sharp swings in asset prices and a large expansion in credit and balance sheets. This paper considers a flow-of-funds approach that stresses the role of asset prices, credit and balance sheets. This framework is used to shine a different light on the Great Moderation in the United Kingdom. It suggests that there were linkages between many of the macroeconomic puzzles of the day and the balance sheet developments that led to financial instability. It further argues that approaches to macroeconomics that stress the importance of balance sheet linkages might be helpful in spotting building financial fragility.

Keywords: flow of funds (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: G01 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 36 pages
Date: 2011-04-12
Note: http://www.bankofengland.co.uk/financialstability/Pages/fpc/fspapers/fs_paper10.aspx
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (21)

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