Deregulating for Financial Stability

Revolutionary changes rocked the financial markets in the 1990s: the collapse and government bailout of the thrifts, the shrinking of commercial banking, the growing dominance of institutional investors, the mushrooming of derivative markets, and the expansion of trade in foreign securities. This text examines implications of different regulatory structures for the role of commerical banks, the effectiveness of monetary policy, the risks of systemic instability, and the allocation of credit. Desirable regulatory changes would either facilitate further adjustment or enable banks to change the patterns of their activities.
 
Revolutionary changes rocked the financial markets in the 1990s: the collapse and government bailout of the thrifts, the shrinking of commercial banking, the growing dominance of institutional investors, the mushrooming of derivative markets, and the expansion of trade in foreign securities. This text examines implications of different regulatory structures for the role of commerical banks, the effectiveness of monetary policy, the risks of systemic instability, and the allocation of credit. Desirable regulatory changes would either facilitate further adjustment or enable banks to change the patterns of their activities.