you have obtained prior permission, you may not download an entire issue of a journal or multiple copies of articles, and you may use content in the JSTOR archive only for your personal, non-commercial use. Please contact the publisher regarding any further use of this work. Publisher contact information may be obtained at

Historically, household wealth estimates based on consumer survey data have been substantially lower than independent, institution-based, estimates. This relative understatement of wealth in consumer surveys has been attributed mainly to an undersampling of wealthy households, which are believed to hold highly disproportionate shares of many types of assets. As a consequence,

suggestions. This research was supported by the National Science Foundation and the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation. This paper is

Abstract: This paper provides evidence that the liquidity of the secondary market for bankers’ acceptances increased dramatically during its first 20 years of existence and this increased liquidity lowered the cost of acceptance financing. The Federal Reserve played a key role in the market’s development by reducing the risk borne by private dealers and helping to solve coordination problems associated with market entry. The American Acceptance Council also played a pivotal role by using the Acceptance Bulletin to provide important public goods to the market and internalize network externalities. The combined efforts of the Federal Reserve and American Acceptance Council were successful in pushing the discount market to a high-liquidity Nash equilibrium by the late 1920s.

This paper analyzes the experience of the United States postal savings system, and (in less detail) that of Japan, with a view to assessing the past and potential future role of postal savings in Japan. The immense size of Japan’s postal savings system – accounting for one-third of household savings deposits and comprising the largest “bank ” in the world – means that the question of their disposition is central to any discussion of the future of Japan’s financial system as a whole. This study found that demand for postal savings deposits is explained, in both countries, mainly by two variables: price (interestdifferentials) and confidence in private banks. Geographical accessibility in rural areas is of less, and diminishing, importance. It is argued that postal banking should be viewed as an alternative to publicly sponsored deposit insurance, as a means to assure households’ access to safe and convenient savings and payment services. This implies that reform discussion should focus on the possibility of restructuring postal savings as a “narrow bank”, in such as way as to ensure that services are priced to fully reflect costs and risks incurred.

Richard G. Anderson is an assistant vice president and economist at the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis. Robert H. Rasche is a professor of economics at Michigan State University. We are indebted to Daniel Steiner for excellent research assistance. We also thank the staff of the Division of Monetary Affairs, Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, for providing the panel data set used in this article.

This paper summarizes the results of a benchmark reconstruction of the adjusted monetary base and adjusted bank reserves data of the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis. With this revision, these series include monthly figures from December 1917 to the present and biweekly figures from February 1984 to the present. 1 During the reconstruction process, we reviewed the historical data used to measure the monetary base and the reserve adjustment magnitude (RAM), as well as the methods of construction for the series. Although all values of the series have changed, the principal changes are as follows: • Monthly figures on both the adjusted monetary base and adjusted reserves now begin in December 1917. Previously, the adjusted monetary base began in 1936 and adjusted reserves began in 1980. 2 Biweekly figures on the adjusted monetary base and adjusted reserves begin in February 1984, when the Federal Reserve shifted from lagged to nearcontemporaneous reserve accounting and lengthened reserve maintenance periods to 14 days from 7 days. • Figures for the monetary (source) base have changed for January 1959 to December 1990. The revised figures are monthly averages of

The views expressed are those of the individual authors and do not necessarily reflect official positions of the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis, the Federal Reserve System, or the Board of Governors. Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis Working Papers are preliminary materials circulated to stimulate discussion and critical comment. References in publications to Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis Working Papers (other than an acknowledgment that the writer has had access to unpublished material) should be cleared with the author or authors.

The views expressed are those of the individual authors and do not necessarily reflect official positions of the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis, the Federal Reserve System, or the Board of Governors. Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis Working Papers are preliminary materials circulated to stimulate discussion and critical comment. References in publications to Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis Working Papers (other than an acknowledgment that the writer has had access to unpublished material) should be cleared with the author or authors.

Abstract not found