Abstract

We show that regulatory changes that occurred in the banking sector in the early eighties, which considerably weakened Regulation Q, can explain the apparent instability of money demand during the same period. We evaluate the effects of the regulatory changes using a model that goes beyond aggregates as M1 and treats currency and different deposit types as alternative means of payments. We use the model to construct a new monetary aggregate that performs remarkably well for the entire period 1915-2012.

[Related data set](https://researchdatabase.minneapolisfed.org/concern/datasets/xp68kg22w).

Published in: _Journal of Monetary Economics_ (Vol. 73, July 2015, pp. 48-65), https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jmoneco.2015.03.005.