Business Cycles in Economics

This anthology presents papers that challenge conventional viewpoints and ideas about business cycles and monetary policy. Some of the selections bring fresh thinking to customary topics, such as business cycle models in perfectly competitive markets, the cyclicality of research and development expenditures, and the effect of uncertainty shocks on consumer spending. Others address concerns that have come to the fore in the aftermath of the global financial crisis -- the consequences of quantitative easing, the effectiveness of macro prudential policies, the impact of shadow banking on the fractional-reserve banking system, and correlations in credit default losses, among others. The collection is not meant to be comprehensive (an impossible and uninteresting goal) but rather to bring together noteworthy contributions that might otherwise be submerged in the torrent of contemporary economic writing. The selection criteria were the quality of thinking, clarity of expression, and soundness of empirical research on topics of compelling interest to people who are actively engaged in the field of monetary economics. The papers included in this book also represent a range of approaches to theoretical and applied research. Some of them describe econometric tools and analytical techniques that are adapted to the study of business cycles and monetary policies. Others set forth conceptual frameworks and conduct empirical analyses that offer new insights into macroeconomic fluctuations. Still others adopt a strategy closer to field work, in the form of case studies supported by extensive statistical documentation. In sum, the papers presented in this volume not only tackle topics of pressing interest; they also illustrate the state of the art in the research methodologies employed by monetary economists.