Fighting the Last War: economists on the lender of last resort

Richard Grossman and Hugh Rockoff

Departmental Working Papers from Rutgers University, Department of Economics

Abstract: In this paper we trace the evolution of the lender of last resort doctrine—and its implementation—from the nineteenth century through the panic of 2008. We find that typically the most influential economists “fight the last war”: formulating policy guidelines that would have dealt effectively with the last crisis or in some cases the last two or three. This applies even to the still supreme voice among lender-of-last-resort theorists, Walter Bagehot, who wrestled with how to deal with the financial crises that hit Britain between the end of the Napoleonic Wars and the panic of 1866. Fighting the last war may leave economists unprepared for meeting effectively the challenge of the next war.

Keywords: lender of last resort; panic (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: B0 N2 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 73 pages
Date: 2015-10-15
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-cba, nep-his and nep-hpe
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (12)

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http://www.sas.rutgers.edu/virtual/snde/wp/2015-15.pdf (application/pdf)

Related works:
Working Paper: Fighting the Last War: Economists on the Lender of Last Resort (2015)
Working Paper: Fighting the Last War: Economists on the Lender of Last Resort (2015)
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:rut:rutres:201515

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