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• Case | HBS Case Collection | 2013 (Revised from original 2012 version)

  Perspectives on the Great Depression

  Julio J. Rotemberg

  The case assembles texts giving perspectives on the Great Depression by Franklin Delano Roosevelt, John Maynard Keynes, Milton Friedman, Anna Schwartz and Ben Bernanke. This should allow for a discussion of the role of fiscal and monetary policies in reaching and escaping outcomes in which the interest rate is close to zero for a long time.

  Keywords: Great Depression; Keynesian multiplier; monetary policy; zero lower bound of interest rates; role of expectations in Macroeconomics; Performance Expectations; History; Policy; Interest Rates; Macroeconomics;

  Citation:

  Rotemberg, Julio J. "Perspectives on the Great Depression." Harvard Business School Case 713-056, April 2013. (Revised from original November 2012 version.)

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• Mimeo | 2013

  Concentration in Mortgage Lending, Refinancing Activity, and Mortgage Rates

  David S. Scharfstein and Adi Sunderam

  We present evidence that high concentration in local mortgage lending reduces the sensitivity of mortgage rates and refinancing activity to mortgage-backed security (MBS) yields. A decrease in MBS yields is typically associated with greater refinancing activity and lower rates on new mortgages. However, this effect is dampened in counties with concentrated mortgage markets. We isolate the direct effect of mortgage market concentration and rule out alternative explanations based on borrower, loan, and collateral characteristics in two ways. First, we use a matching procedure to compare high- and low-concentration counties that are very similar on observable characteristics and find similar results. Second, we examine counties where concentration in mortgage lending is increased by bank mergers. We show that within a given county, sensitivities to MBS yields decrease after a concentration-increasing merger. Our results suggest that the effectiveness of housing as a monetary policy transmission channel varies in both the time series and the cross section. Increasing concentration by one standard deviation above the mean reduces the overall impact of a decline in MBS yields by approximately 50%.

  Keywords: Mortgages; Banking Industry; United States;

  Citation:

  Scharfstein, David S., and Adi Sunderam. "Concentration in Mortgage Lending, Refinancing Activity, and Mortgage Rates." April 2013. Mimeo.

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• Case | HBS Case Collection | 2013 (Revised from original 2012 version)

  Switzerland: Foreign Pressure and Direct Democracy

  Julio J. Rotemberg and Jonathan Naharro Martin

  Keywords: Switzerland;

  Citation:

  Rotemberg, Julio J., and Jonathan Naharro Martin. "Switzerland: Foreign Pressure and Direct Democracy." Harvard Business School Case 712-053, March 2013. (Revised from original April 2012 version.)

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