The Mystique Surrounding the Central Bank's Balance Sheet, Applied to the European Crisis

S-Tier
Journal: American Economic Review
Year: 2013
Volume: 103
Issue: 3
Pages: 135-40

Score contribution per author:

8.043 = (α=2.01 / 1 authors) × 4.0x S-tier

α: calibrated so average coauthorship-adjusted count equals average raw count

Abstract

A central bank's resource constraint bounds the dividends it can distribute by the present value of seignorage, which is a modest share of GDP. This is in spite of the mystique behind a central bank's balance sheet. Moreover, the statutes of the Federal Reserve or the ECB make it difficult for it to redistribute resources across regions. In a simple model of sovereign default, where multiple equilibria arise if debt repudiation lowers fiscal surpluses, the central bank may help to select one equilibrium. The central bank's main lever over fundamentals is to raise inflation, but otherwise the balance sheet gives it little leeway.

Technical Details

RePEc Handle
repec:aea:aecrev:v:103:y:2013:i:3:p:135-40
Journal Field
General
Author Count
1
Added to Database
2026-01-29