The Avatar appearance customization features built into Second Life are very powerful. Most people will easily be able to create an avatar with the built-in tools that will please them, impress others and allow original self-expression.
But there are always people who want more. And if you’re reading this document, chances are you’re one of them.
Over the past two decades, the U.S. economy has experienced several major crises that have influenced the behaviour of households, firms, and economic authorities. As a matter of fact, events such as the recent financial meltdown, the terrorist attacks in 2001, the Russian crisis in 1998, and the Gulf war of 1990 have been followed by a period of high uncertainty, which is why we will refer to these as uncertainty shocks.
Over the last decades, banks operated in an extremely competitive environment, which forced them to become more effective in order to survive. In addition, the recent period of crisis in credit markets has highlighted the role of the bank lending channel.
Two aspects concerning the role of banks need to be examined: first, the manner banks either affect or are affected by the economic situation and second, their ability to do so. This is accomplished by investigating how the bank lending channel operates, if monetary policy decisions can be transmitted through it and whether bank efficiency affects in any way the operation of this channel.
