This paper develops a general equilibrium model in which monetary dist
urbances have effects reminiscent of Roosa's classic description of th
e availability doctrine. The model is a marriage of the modern credit
rationing literature and the recent sluggish cash flow models of monet
ary transmission. Both elements are crucial. The credit rationing aspe
ct leads to a focus upon the quantity or availability of credit. Howev
er, the rationing model in and of itself is a real model, and there is
no reason for fluctuations in the nominal quantity of fiat money to h
ave any effect on the availability of real credit. This is where the s
luggish cash flow assumption enters into the analysis. Under this assu
mption, changes in the nominal supply of fiat money do affect the real
supply of credit because a subset of the economy absorbs a disproport
ionate share of the monetary injection.