The Evolution of the Federal Reserve Swap Lines since 1962

Michael Bordo, Owen Humpage and Anna Schwartz

No 20755, NBER Working Papers from National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc

Abstract: In this paper, we describe the evolution of the Federal Reserve’s swap lines from their inception in 1962 as a mechanism to forestall claims on U.S gold reserves under Bretton Woods to a means of extending emergency dollar liquidity during the Great Recession. We describe a number of consequences associated with swap operations. We argue, for example, that swaps calm crisis situations by both supplementing foreign countries’ dollar reserves and by signaling central-bank cooperation. We show how swaps exposed the Federal Reserve to conditionality and raised fears that they bypassed the Congressional appropriations process.

JEL-codes: F3 N2 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2014-12
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-cba, nep-his and nep-mon
Note: DAE ME
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (11)

Published as Michael D Bordo & Owen F Humpage & Anna J Schwartz, 2015. "The Evolution of the Federal Reserve Swap Lines since 1962," IMF Economic Review, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 63(2), pages 353-372, September.

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Journal Article: The Evolution of the Federal Reserve Swap Lines since 1962 (2015)
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