This paper analyzes the costs and benefits for an emerging economy to formally adopt dollarization. The magnitude of the costs and benefits involved in this process will not be the same for all countries and depend on the particular characteristics of each economy as well as its relationship...

Annotated remarks made at the 50th Anniversary Conference “Fortalecimiento institucional de los bancos centrales y efectividad de la política monetaria”, of the Central Bank of Nicaragua, February 2010. The paper lays out the importance of institutional strenthening (governance) as an...

This paper describes the functioning of a currency board within the socio-economic context in which it operates. Special focus is given to the macroeconomic implications of a currency board system compared to a central bank system. In particular the author describes the principles regulating a...

In this note we summarize our recent paper, where we delved into the details of this apple-to-oranges problem with the aim of defining a minimum common ground. We begin our analysis by explicitly documenting the kinds of measures that are construed as capital controls. Along the way, we describe...

The launch of the euro has fed doubts concerning the constitution of an optimal European monetary zone. Indeed, the differences in legal, institutional and cultural frameworks… as well as the diversity of the productive and financial European systems may have led to the idea that Europe does...

Even though the Congress and the Administration are responsible for determining fiscal policy measures, these measures impact the Fed Reserve's monetary policy decisons. The indirect effect of fiscal policy on the conduct of monetary policy through its influence on the overall economy and the...

Rescue cases involving guarantees (contrasted with restructuring cases) during the recent Financial Crisis, have illustrated the prominent position which the goal of promoting financial stability has assumed over that of the prevention or limitation of possible distortions of competition which...

As well as providing an analysis of how financial stability could be sustained through the appropriate targeting of policy instruments at debt gearing, this paper aims to provide an overview of the respective roles which governments and shareholders could assume in deterring financial...

The previous financial crisis caused the ending of an unusually long phase of recovery in the former USSR republics, thus increasing the relevance of developing effective measures, specifically, the countercyclical economic policy. Throughout 1991 to 2010, fourteen completed cycles were...

A sufficient and appropriate degree of central bank independence is widely acknowledged to be necessary for the goal of achieving price stability. However, despite the levels of independence claimed to be enjoyed by several central banks, recent events indicate shifts in focus of monetary policy...