Fed paper says macro-prudential policy is not a new idea

A working paper published by the US Federal Reserve finds that macro-prudential policies, often thought to be a recent innovation, have been employed numerous times in the US in the past century.

In the paper, The History of Cyclical Macroprudential Policy in the United States, authors Douglas Elliott, Greg Feldberg and Andreas Lehnert examine a range of tools employed since World War I, including underwriting standards, credit growth limits and reserve requirements.

"Contrary to a common