A Leverage-Based Measure of Financial Stability

Discussion Papers on Business and Economics, University of Southern Denmark, 1/2018

38 Pages Posted: 12 Feb 2018

See all articles by Tobias Adrian

Tobias Adrian

International Monetary Fund

Karol Borowiecki

University of Southern Denmark

Alexander Tepper

Federal Reserve Bank of New York

Multiple version iconThere are 3 versions of this paper

Date Written: February 07, 2018

Abstract

The size and the leverage of financial market investors and the elasticity of demand of unlevered investors define MinMaSS, the smallest market size that can support a given degree of leverage. The financial system's potential for financial crises can be measured by the stability ratio, the fraction of total market size to MinMaSS. We use that financial stability metric to gauge the buildup of vulnerability in the run-up to the 1998 Long-Term Capital Management crisis and argue that policymakers could have detected the potential for the crisis.

Keywords: Leverage, financial crisis, financial stability, minimum market size for stability, MinMaSS, stability ratio, Long-Term Capital Management, LTCM

JEL Classification: G01, G10, G20, G21

Suggested Citation

Adrian, Tobias and Borowiecki, Karol and Tepper, Alexander, A Leverage-Based Measure of Financial Stability (February 07, 2018). Discussion Papers on Business and Economics, University of Southern Denmark, 1/2018, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=3122244 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.3122244

Tobias Adrian

International Monetary Fund ( email )

700 19th Street, N.W.
Washington, DC 20431
United States

HOME PAGE: http://www.tobiasadrian.com

Karol Borowiecki (Contact Author)

University of Southern Denmark ( email )

Campusvej 55
DK-5230 Odense, 5000
Denmark

Alexander Tepper

Federal Reserve Bank of New York ( email )

33 Liberty Street
New York, NY 10045
United States

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