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Working Papers

March 1992, No. 92-1

Identifying Credit Crunches

Stacey L. Schreft and Raymond E. Owens III

(For an updated version of this working paper, see WP 93-2)

This article emphasizes the role of nonprice rationing in credit crunches. It proposes a process for identifying credit crunches that is centered around the political economy of the period under study. The process is applied to the 1960-91 period, and a variable is constructed that indicates when credit crunches occurred. In addition, the article questions the conventional wisdom that Regulation Q was the primary cause of the 1960s credit crunches.

Katrina Mullen (804) 697-8145