Viral Acharya and Ouarda Merrouche study the liquidity demands of large settlement banks in the UK and how they affected the Sterling Money Markets before and during the sub-prime crisis of 2007-8. The researchers find that large settlement banks experienced a 30 percent increase in liquidity holdings immediately after August 9, 2007, the day that money markets froze, igniting the crisis. After that day, settlement bank liquidity rose on those calendar days with a large amount of payment activity, and it rose more for weaker than for stronger banks. The settlement banks' liquidity demands caused overnight inter-bank rates to rise -- in both unsecured borrowing as well as borrowing secured by UK government bonds -- something that was virtually unheard of before the crisis.

David Card, Alexandre Mas, Enrico Moretti, and Emmanuel Saez randomly selected a group of employees of the University of California, told them about a new website listing the pay of all University employees, and then surveyed them about their job satisfaction and job search intentions. The vast majority of new users of the website accessed data on the pay of colleagues in their department. The researchers find that workers with below-median salaries for their pay unit and occupation reported less satisfaction with their pay and job and a significant increase in the likelihood of looking for a new job. Those earning above the median reported no higher satisfaction with their pay and job, and no increased or decreased likelihood of looking for a new job.

Using data from retail fueling stations, Soren Anderson finds that the demand for ethanol as a gasoline substitute is highly price-sensitive. He estimates that a 25 percent ethanol standard for gasoline would decrease gasoline consumption by about 20 percent and would cut carbon dioxide emissions from gasoline by about 10 percent. He also finds that many households are willing to pay a premium for ethanol, and some households will choose ethanol without large subsidies