Compared with its U.S. and U.K. counterparts, the Labor Tax Credit (LTC) is likely to have more limited effects on incentives for primary-earners to enter the labor force, because of the smaller size of the credit. Any significant increase in the LTC to strengthen its effect on the still large...

This paper provides a theoretical underpinning for the major determinants of optimal reserve demand in the case where fundamental disequilibrium constitutes a key element governing reserve management. Emphasis is given to the role of reserves to smooth the process of economic adjustment by...

This paper analyzes reasons for the high post-war correlations of saving and investment, both across countries and over time. It is concluded that the main reason for the observed high correlations over the recent period is probably government policy

After the failure of the early 1980s, a second attempt at capital account liberalization was gradually carried out in Chile during the 1990s, this time in parallel with increased exchange rate flexibility. Capital account regulations were applied to support the independent monetary policy...

In the past decade, most of the EU New Member States experienced a severe credit-boom bust cycle. This paper argues that the credit boom-bust cycle was to a large extent the result of factors external to the region (“bad luck”). Rapid credit growth followed from a high liquidity in global...

The Report evaluates statistical practices relating to the measurement of international capital flows. In particular, the principal sources of statistical descrepancies in the component categories of the capital account in the global balance of payments are addressed

Assiduously tracking the trends and consequences of globalization, the IMF's quarterly magazine Finance & Development has been a major forum for discussing-and dissecting-the policy options and challenges faced by governments in an era when many national decisions transcend borders. This...

After narrowing modestly in 2013, the global scale of current account imbalances, and of excess imbalances, held steady in 2014. Over the last several years, while the country composition of imbalances has rotated somewhat, overall there has been little progress on reducing excess imbalances....