This paper discusses how monetary policy might assist macroeconomic performance in the second half of the 1980s in the G-10 countries, without compromising the medium-term objective of price stability. From this perspective, the recent stance of monetary policy is assessed, as well as its...

Après la longue récession qui a suivi le second choc pétrolier, la reprise économique est actuellement amorcée dans la plupart des grands pays de l'OCDE. Elle est d'une importance variable selon les pays : si les Etats-Unis connaissent d'ores et déjà une croissance rapide de la production...

Ces dernières années, le niveau des taux d'intérêt réels est apparu relativement élevé dans la plupart des pays de l'OCDE. Cela n'a pas empêché la reprise économique de se développer (à un rythme plus rapide aux Etats-Unis et au Japon qu'en Europe) pas plus qu'il n'y a eu,...

This paper discusses several aspects of the medium-term orientation of OECD countries' economic policies in the 1980s, concentrating on monetary and fiscal instruments. The developments that led to the adoption of such a "medium-term strategy", and the apparent analytical rationale for it, are...

This paper first gives a brief account of the main changes introduced by OECD governments in their capital income tax rules during the 1980s with respect to both the corporate and personal sectors. It then examines the evolution of effective capital taxation, using a summary measure ("tax...

The purpose of this study is to assess the current state of understanding about the effects of monetary policy, both at the conceptual level and in the light of the experience of the seven major OECD countries (the United States, Japan, Germany, France, the United Kingdom, Italy and Canada) and...

This paper reassesses, in the light of recent experience, the formulation of monetary policy in terms of targets for monetary aggregates in the major countries. A number of difficulties which have arisen are discussed: instability of the money-income relationship; constraints created by fiscal...

The aim of this paper is to provide an assessment of the medium-term financial strategies operating in and available to OECD economies. Three issues are discussed: first, the rationale for the increasing adoption of medium-term budgetary and monetary objectives; second, the appropriate criteria...

During the past decade, the formulation of fiscal policy has been increasingly founded on medium-term considerations associated with public debt and economic efficiency. In this regard, this paper, and the ones by Olivier Blanchard and Edward Gramlich in the same Working Paper Series, considers...

This paper examines the problems raised by the recent sharp increases in the ratio of public debt to GNP in most OECD Member countries. When interest rates exceed growth rates, this development appears as a symptom of instability in public finances. The paper also analyses the evolution of...