Brookings Papers on Economic Activity: Fall 2008

Brookings Papers on Economic Activity (BPEA) provides academic and business economists, government officials, and members of the financial and business communities with timely research on current economic issues.

Contents:

Editors' Summary

Financial Crash, Commodity Prices, and Global Imbalances, By Ricardo J. Caballero, Emmanuel Farhi, and Pierre-Olivier Gourinchas

Making Sense of the Subprime Crisis, By Kristopher Gerardi, Andreas Lehnert, Shane M. Sherlund, and Paul Willen

The Central Role of Home Prices in the Current Financial Crisis: How Will the Market Clear? By Karl E. Case

Beyond Leveraged Losses: The Balance Sheet Effects of the Home Price Downturn, By Jan Hatzius

Financial Regulation in a System Context, By Stephen Morris and Hyun Song Shin

The Unofficial Economy and Economic Development, By Rafael La Porta and Andrei Shleifer

The Real Exchange Rate and Economic Growth, By Dani Rodrik

Douglas W. Elmendorf is a senior fellow in the Economic Studies Program at the Brookings Institution. He previously served as a staff member at the Federal Reserve Board, Treasury Department, Council of Economic Advisers, and Congressional Budget Office. N. Gregory Mankiw is the Robert M. Beren Professor of Economics at Harvard University. From 2003 to 2005, he served as chairman of the Council of Economic Advisers. Lawrence H. Summers is the Charles W. Eliot University Professor at Harvard University. He served as president of Harvard from 2001 to 2006 and as secretary of the U. S. Treasury from 1999 to 2001. He is also a former chief economist with the World Bank.