The Anatomy of a Credit Crisis: The Boom and Bust in Farm Land Prices in the United States in the 1920s
60 Pages Posted: 30 Dec 2012 Last revised: 20 Oct 2015
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The Anatomy of a Credit Crisis: The Boom and Bust in Farm Land Prices in the United States in the 1920s
The Anatomy of a Credit Crisis: The Boom and Bust in Farm Land Prices in the United States in the 1920s
Date Written: September 1, 2014
Abstract
Does credit availability exacerbate asset price inflation? What channels could it work through? What are the long run consequences? In this paper we address these questions by examining the farm land price boom (and bust) in the United States that preceded the Great Depression. We find that credit availability likely had a direct effect on inflating land prices. Credit availability may have also amplified the relationship between the perceived improvement in fundamentals and land prices. When the perceived fundamentals soured, however, areas with higher ex ante credit availability suffered a greater fall in land prices, and experienced higher bank failure rates. Land prices stayed low for a number of decades after the bust in areas that had higher credit availability, suggesting that the effects of booms and busts induced by credit availability might be persistent. We draw lessons for regulatory policy.
Keywords: Consumer Credit, banking, land prices
JEL Classification: E44, G21
Suggested Citation: Suggested Citation