A recent empirical study conducted by Robert Barro and published by the Bank of England finds surprisingly little evidence for harmful effects of inflation on growth, seemingly refuting the many theories purporting the contrary. Have the costs of inflation been exaggerated in the past? Is...

The pricing of payments has received increasing attention of regulators. In many cases, regulators are concerned that consumers do not face cost based prices. They argue that without cost based prices consumers will make inefficient choices. In this paper, it is argued that both, economics of...

Die Regulierungsbehörden scheinen in Bezug auf multilaterale Interchange-Gebühren (MIF) ambivalent zu sein. Auf der einen Seite behandeln sie die MIF wie Kartellpreise in konventionellen Märkten. Andererseits haben sie eine Obergrenze für die MIF festgelegt - und damit das Konzept von...

In Ireland, there was a bank strike that led to a complete shut-down of the main part of the banking system from May to November 1970. The effects of this strike were surprisingly limited. This had led some observers to conclude that trade credit can easily substitute for bank deposits as a...

This article looks at the evolution of the Target balance of the Greek central bank. It is shown that in the first 18 months “after Lehman”, lending policy has been relatively lax, contributing to the increase of Target deficits. However, from spring 2010 onwards, there has been a...

Card payment systems are sometimes accused of taking from the poor and giving to the rich. The argument is as follows: High card fees are leading to higher retail prices for both, card users and cash users. However, high income card holders are receiving rewards when purchasing by card. The...

The current discussion about the future of the financial system draws heavily on a set of theories known as the ‘New Monetary Economics’. The New Monetary Economics predicts that deregulation and financial innovation will lead to a moneyless world. This paper uses a market microstructure...

Das Problem eines möglichen Austritts aus einem Bundesstaat oder Staatenbund ist nicht neu. In der gegenwärtigen Krise steht dabei insbesondere der Aspekt „Austritt aus einer Währungsunion“ im Vordergrund. Vor noch nicht allzu langer Zeit war die Austrittsproblematik in Kanada von...

The period from the 1950s to the late 1970s saw an almost uniform decline of cash-to-GDP ratios in industrial countries. A closer look at the German payment system suggests that the factor causing such a change has been the shift towards cashless wage payments. In this period, in Germany, the...