[Conclusion] Taken together, the analysis in this paper does not support the conventional wisdom that the welfare state hinders country competitiveness, or that social expenditure (financed through corporate taxation) deters inward foreign direct investment. Instead, we find that welfare...

The Nordic countries are known for their success in combining an extensive welfare state with high labor force participation. This is explained by the origins of their welfare states that can be traced to a unique set of values and beliefs that emphasize the right of women to participate in the...

OECD unemployment rates show long swings which dominate shorter business cycle components and these long swings show a range of common patterns. Using a panel of 21 OECD countries 1960-2002, we estimate the common factor that drives unemployment by the first principal component. This factor has...

OECD unemployment rates show long swings which dominate shorter business cycle components and these long swings show a range of common patterns. Using a panel of 21 OECD countries 1960-2002, we estimate the common factor that drives unemployment by the first principal component. This factor has...

This paper explores the influence of wage and price staggering on monetary persistence. First, our analysis indicates that the degree of monetary persistence generated by wage vis-à-vis price staggering depends on the relative competitiveness of the labor and product markets. We show that the...

This paper offers a reappraisal of the inflation-unemployment tradeoff, based on ?frictional growth,? describing the interplay between nominal frictions and money growth. When the money supply grows in the presence of price inertia (due to staggered wage contracts with time discounting), the...

Appropriate policies to address the problem of toxic assets should act as automatic stabilizers, so that institutions who toxic assets turn out to be worthless receive more public support than institutions whose toxic assets have value. Furthermore, such policies should be frugal in their...

Now, at the end of the 20th century, many OECD countries face serious problems in achieving both prosperity and social cohesion. One important - and sadly neglected - source of these problems are the very policy systems that are meant to address them. I will argue that these policy systems -...