This paper provides an overview of the likely impact of the creation of the European Community (EC) internal market on the European Free Trade Association (EFTA) members. The focus is on the four freedoms and the institutional and legal changes required for increased economic cooperation between...

This background paper describes five different tools that can be used for the assessment of tax incentives by governments in low income countries' (LICs). The first tool (an application of cost-benefit analysis) provides an overarching framework for assessment. Evaluations of the various costs...

Forward-looking behavior on the part of the monetary authority leads least squares estimates to understate the true growth consequences of monetary policy interventions. We present instrumental variables estimates of the impact of interest rates on real output growth for several European...

This paper evaluates the performance of two alternative policy rules, a forward-looking rule and a spontaneous adjustment rule, under alternative inflation targets, in terms of output losses in a macroeconomic model, using European Union data. The simulations suggest that forward-looking rules...

The introduction of inflation targeting in 2006, together with important economic developments such as dedollarization, marked the beginning of a new macroeconomic framework in Armenia, which is likely to have changed the effectiveness of monetary policy. This paper is the first attempt to...

Die deutsche Wirtschaft wird im laufenden Jahr trotz der Dämpfung aufgrund der restriktiven Finanzpolitik, des drastischen Anstiegs des Ölpreises sowie der Turbulenzen an den Finanzmärkten und der Aufwertung des Euro um 2,6 % wachsen. Nach dem Urteil der Institute sind die endogenen...

Business cycle dynamic in Germany has still been high at the beginning of this year. However in due course of 2008 adverse external impact especially from the US will make themselves being felt. Growth will slow down to 1.4 % in 2009. It will be driven mainly by consumption. Unemployment will go...