Some researchers have recently introduced productive government investment spending into Dynamic stochastic general equilibrium (DSGE) models, adding a supply channel. This paper takes a similar perspective but it also introduces the government consumption good into the household utility...

We investigate the behaviour of gross capital flows and net capital flows for euro area member countries. We highlight the extraordinary boom-bust cycles in both gross flows and net flows since 2003. We also show that the reversal in net capital flows during the crisis has been very costly in...

In a demand system with conventional CES preferences, the price elasticitites of aggregate trade flows are weighted averages of sector-specific elasticities of substitution. We describe a methodology that can be used to estimate country-specific values for the price elasticities of aggregate...

Based on a new database of bilateral financial flows among euro area countries and their major world partners, this paper explores the role of financial links in the accumulation and then adjustment of current account imbalances in the euro area. The data show that the geography of financial...

Global and European trade balances have seen strong divergences combined with strong movements in the exchange rate. Trade balances and real effective exchange rates are related. Using different measures of the real effective exchange rate, we show that this long-run link hinges on the relative...

This paper uses an estimated DSGE model to analyse the factors behind the build-up of imbalances in the Spanish economy. Shock decompositions suggest that external imbalances have been able to build up mainly due to the reduction in real interest rates and easier access to credit following the...

The financial and economic crisis has generated renewed interest, especially among policy-makers, in early-warning systems that could help identifying fiscal and macro-financial vulnerabilities potentially triggering risks. Against this background, this paper presents an early-warning index of...

This paper studies the effectiveness of Euro Area (EA) fiscal policy, during the recent financial crisis, using an estimated New Keynesian model with a bank. A key dimension of policy in the crisis was massive government support for banks—that dimension has so far received little attention in...

The paper analyses the stabilising potential of simple fiscal policy rules for a small open economy in monetary union in a 2-region DSGE model with nominal and real rigidities. We consider simple fiscal instrument rules for government purchases, transfers, and consumption, labour and capital...

This paper uses a two region DSGE model for the Euro area (periphery vs. core), to analyse the costs of higher sovereign risk premia, the so called 'sovereign risk channel'. We highlight the importance of valuation effects of sovereign bonds in bank balance sheets for the transmission of...