What Drives Consumer Debt Dynamics
研究了低利率如何通过财富效应、债务负担减轻和新增借贷影响家庭支出，并指出金融危机后消费者在低利率下仍减少债务的去杠杆化过程拖累了经济复苏。
Monetary policy influences household spending through various channels. For example, low interest rates support higher asset prices, increasing households ’ wealth and producing more spending through the wealth effect. In addition, to the extent that previously acquired debts have floating interest rates or can be refinanced, low interest rates can reduce the burden of servicing those debts and free up cash flow for other spending. Low interest rates also tend to make new borrowing more attractive, which in turn can boost household spending. In the wake of the housing bubble, consumers generally have been reducing rather than increasing their debt levels despite low interest rates. Many policymakers and economists have pointed to this deleveraging process as an important drag in the subdued recovery from the financial crisis and recession. Deleveraging has entailed a combination of defaults by households, paying down of old debts, and weak borrowing