Quantifying the Effect of Financial Conditions in the Euro Area, Japan, United Kingdom and United States

This paper constructs a broad measure of financial conditions for the United States, Japan, the Euro Area and the United Kingdom, by extending monetary condition indices which are traditionally used to gauge the impact of monetary policy on the economy. In addition to changes in the exchange rate and short and long interest rates, the change in credit availability, corporate bond spreads and household wealth are taken into account to gauge the evolution of financial conditions. Since the onset of the financial crisis, financial conditions have tightened by an unprecedented degree in the four countries/regions and this is evaluated to exert a major drag on activity.