Clark Center Forum

About the Clark Center Forum

The Forum for the Kent A. Clark Center for Global Markets is home to the European, Finance, and US Economic Experts Panels as well as a repository of thoughtful, current, and reliable information regarding topics of the day.
Finance

New Money Market Fund Rules

Question A:

New Money Market Fund (MMF) Rules: The SEC adopted amendments to the MMF rules, including a new mandatory liquidity fee for institutional prime and tax-exempt funds. The liquidity fee would trigger when daily net redemptions exceed five percent and when the costs associated with such redemptions are more than de minimus. https://www.sec.gov/news/press-release/2023-129

The new liquidity fee will substantially reduce the likelihood of runs on MMFs.

Responses

Source: Clark Center Economic Experts Panel
Methodology
Question B:

The new liquidity fee will cause a substantial shift of assets under management from institutional prime and tax-exempt funds to government MMFs (which are exempt from the fees).

Responses

Source: Clark Center Economic Experts Panel
Methodology
 
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Financial Regulation
US

Non-Bank Financial Intermediaries

Question A:

Non-bank financial intermediaries pose a substantial threat to financial stability.

Responses

Source: Clark Center Economic Experts Panel
Methodology
Question B:

Regulating the leverage and liquidity of non-bank financial intermediaries would substantially improve financial stability.

Responses

Source: Clark Center Economic Experts Panel
Methodology
Question C:

Given current regulations, non-bank financial intermediaries should not have access to central bank support.

Responses

Source: Clark Center Economic Experts Panel
Methodology
 
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Business Cycles, Recessions, & Crises
Europe

Non-Bank Financial Intermediaries

This European survey examines (a) Non-bank financial intermediaries pose a substantial threat to financial stability; (b) Regulating the leverage and liquidity of non-bank financial intermediaries would substantially improve financial stability; (c) Given current regulations, non-bank financial intermediaries should not have access to central bank support 
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Business Cycles, Recessions, & Crises
US

Junk Fees

This US survey examines (a) An $8 cap on late fees for credit cards, as proposed by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, would lead to a substantial reduction in overall costs for consumers; (b) Requiring that all credit card fees and interest rates be transparent, prominently displayed, and easily searchable online would lead to a substantial reduction in overall costs for consumers; (c) Consumers would be measurably better off if efforts to reduce the impact of so-called ‘junk fees’ across the economy concentrated on making fees more transparent than on capping specific types of fees 
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Financial Regulation
FT-Booth US Macroeconomists Survey

FTxBooth: Additional Rate Increases Possible?

This installment of the FTxBooth US Macroeconomists Survey discusses the likelihood that the Fed will raise rates at least two more times. The summary results are below and you can read the Financial Times article here, subscription required. View the results of this survey >> For social media: Please use the hashtag #FTxBooth when referring […] 
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FT-Booth US Macroeconomists Survey
Europe

Greedflation

This European survey examines (a) A significant factor behind today’s inflation in Europe is dominant corporations in uncompetitive markets taking advantage of their market power to raise prices in order to increase their profit margins; (b) A significant factor behind today’s inflation in some sectors of the European economy is dominant corporations in uncompetitive markets taking advantage of their market power to raise prices in order to increase their profit margins; (c) A significant factor behind today’s inflation in some sectors of the European economy (both competitive and concentrated) is distortions in the aggregate economy where supply does not meet demand.

 

  
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Monetary Policy, Interest Rates, & Inflation
Finance

ESG Factors

This Finance survey examines (a) Regulation that allows state pension funds to consider environmental, social, and governance factors in investment decisions only if these factors are material for risk and expected return would make retirees measurably worse off; (b) Regulation that prevents state pension funds from considering environmental, social, and governance factors in investment decisions even if these factors are material for risk and expected return would make retirees measurably worse off 
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Financial Regulation
US

Expectations, Policy and Growth

This US survey examines (a) When evaluating the consequences of any shifts in economic policy regimes, it is essential to consider potential changes in the behavior of economic agents due to revised expectations; (b) The empirical evidence on how monetary policy affects the economy in the short run is most consistent with the assumption that economic agents form rational expectations; (c) Economic research has established that the welfare consequences of differences in countries’ growth and level of development are substantially higher than the welfare costs of business cycles

 

  
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Business Cycles, Recessions, & Crises
Finance

Banks’ Business Model

This Finance survey examines (a) Since maturity transformation is an inherent feature of commercial banks' business model, some duration mismatch between assets and liabilities is unavoidable; (b) For the purposes of capital regulation, banks should be required to mark their holdings of Treasury and Agency securities to market at all times (even though their loans are not marked to market)

 

  
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Banking
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