The economic and financial crisis is affecting the fiscal accounts of virtually every country. Public sector support for the financial system, fiscal stimulus and the automatic stabilizers, as well as the revenue decline from the downturn in commodity and asset prices, are leading to sharp...

This paper provides a survey of some issues concerning the evolution of the European Monetary System (EMS) in the context of increasingly integrated financial markets. It reviews the objectives of the EMS, its institutional structure, its perceived impact on key macroeconomic variables, and some...