A primary purpose of the Federal Reserve Act of 1913 was to prevent banking panics by establishing the Federal Reserve System to function as a lender of last resort. Other types of financial crisis require a similar response, however, and the Federal Reserve has repeatedly used its capacity to generate liquidity to insulate the economy from crises in financial markets. The Fed's response to the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, is the most recent example of this. This paper reviews the Fed's responses to crises and potential crises in financial markets: the stock market crash of 1987, the Russian default, and the September 11th attacks.

Abstract (en): A primary purpose of the Federal Reserve Act of 1913 was to prevent banking panics by establishing the Federal Reserve System to function as a lender of last resort. Other types of financial crisis require a similar response, however, and the Federal Reserve has repeatedly used its capacity to generate liquidity to insulate the economy from crises in financial markets. The Fed's response to the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, is the most recent example of this. This paper reviews the Fed's responses to crises and potential crises in financial markets: the stock market crash of 1987, the Russian default, and the September 11th attacks. Files submitted are the data file 0403cnd.xls and the program file 0403cnp.prg. These data are part of ICPSR's Publication-Related Archive and are distributed exactly as they arrived from the data depositor. ICPSR has not checked or processed this material. Users should consult the investigator(s) if further information is desired.