Betting the House

43 Pages Posted: 22 Dec 2014 Last revised: 3 Apr 2023

See all articles by Òscar Jordà

Òscar Jordà

Federal Reserve Banks - Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco

Moritz Schularick

University of Bonn - Department of Economics; Centre for Economic Policy Research (CEPR)

Alan M. Taylor

University of California, Davis - Department of Economics; National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER); Centre for Economic Policy Research (CEPR)

Multiple version iconThere are 2 versions of this paper

Date Written: December 2014

Abstract

Is there a link between loose monetary conditions, credit growth, house price booms, and financial instability? This paper analyzes the role of interest rates and credit in driving house price booms and busts with data spanning 140 years of modern economic history in the advanced economies. We exploit the implications of the macroeconomic policy trilemma to identify exogenous variation in monetary conditions: countries with fixed exchange regimes often see fluctuations in short-term interest rates unrelated to home economic conditions. We use novel instrumental variable local projection methods to demonstrate that loose monetary conditions lead to booms in real estate lending and house prices bubbles; these, in turn, materially heighten the risk of financial crises. Both effects have become stronger in the postwar era.

Suggested Citation

Jordà, Òscar and Schularick, Moritz and Taylor, Alan M., Betting the House (December 2014). NBER Working Paper No. w20771, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=2541547

Òscar Jordà (Contact Author)

Federal Reserve Banks - Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco ( email )

Moritz Schularick

University of Bonn - Department of Economics ( email )

Bonn
Germany

Centre for Economic Policy Research (CEPR)

London
United Kingdom

Alan M. Taylor

University of California, Davis - Department of Economics ( email )

One Shields Drive
Davis, CA 95616-8578
United States
530-752-1572 (Phone)
530-752-9382 (Fax)

HOME PAGE: http://www.econ.ucdavis.edu/faculty/amtaylor/

National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER)

1050 Massachusetts Avenue
Cambridge, MA 02138
United States

HOME PAGE: http://nber.org

Centre for Economic Policy Research (CEPR)

London
United Kingdom

HOME PAGE: http://cepr.org

Do you have negative results from your research you’d like to share?

Paper statistics

Downloads
58
Abstract Views
748
Rank
417,019
PlumX Metrics