Revisiting the 1929 crisis: was the Fed Pre-Keynesian? New lessons from the past

Abstract

"This article is organized as follows: in section 1, the authors discuss the Bordo et al. (2002) monetarist counterfactual analysis. Section 2 presents data. In section 3, the authors address the following question: referring to Keynes' definition of liquidity trap, they ask themselves whether there were episodes of liquidity trap over the pre and post 1929 crisis period and whether the Fed modified its reaction function in consequence? Following this, in section 4 and using a SVAR approach, the authors simulate how US economic activity would have reacted following an expansionary monetary policy after the 1929 crisis. In conclusion, the authors suggest a renewed monetary lesson from the past." (author's abstract)