Borrowing decisions affect most households, with large stakes and implications for research
subfields as varied as macroeconomics and industrial organization. I review theoretical and …

We study the macroeconomic consequences of issuing central bank digital currency (CBDC)—
a universally accessible and interest-bearing central bank liability, implemented via …

At the height of the Great Depression a number of leading US economists advanced a
proposal for monetary reform that became known as the Chicago Plan. It envisaged the …

We examine the impact of the COVID-19 economic crisis on business and consumer
bankruptcies in the United States using real-time data on the universe of filings. Historically …

We use survey data to measure households' propensity to default on mortgages even if they
can afford to pay them (strategic default) when the value of the mortgage exceeds the value …

The dominant model of regulation in the United States for consumer credit, insurance, and
investment products is disclosure and unfettered choice. As these products have become …

The world of welfare has changed radically. As the poor trade welfare checks for low-wage
jobs, their low earnings qualify them for a hefty check come tax time—a combination of the …

We study, theoretically and quantitatively, the general equilibrium of an economy in which
households smooth consumption by means of both a riskless asset and unsecured loans …

Consumer bankruptcy provides partial insurance against bad luck, but, by driving up interest
rates, makes life-cycle smoothing more difficult. We argue that to assess this trade-off one …

Personal bankruptcy filings have risen from 0.3 percent of households per year in 1984 to
around 1.35 percent in 1998 and 1999, transforming bankruptcy from a rare occurrence to a …