This paper evaluates the cyclicality, inertia and effect of EU accession on fiscal policy in Central and Eastern Europe using a real time dataset. Budget balances are found to react in a stabilising way to economic activity, and they are less inert than is typically found in Western Europe....

This paper analyses the problem faced by CEECs wishing to join the Euro who must hit both an inflation and exchange rate criterion during a period of nominal convergence. This process requires either an inflation differential, an appreciating nominal exchange rate, or a combination of the two,...

Mullainathan and Shleifer (2002) argue that there are two types of media bias. One bias, called ideology, reflects a news outlet's desire to affect reader opinions in a particular direction. The second bias, referred to as spin, reflects the outlet's attempt to simply create a memorable story....

This paper estimates the wealth effect on consumption of both equity and housing wealth, Using data across 16 industrial countries differentiated by type of financial system and examining trends in these wealth effects over time. The three main conclusions are found and their policy implications...

This study examines the emergence of financial stability as a key police objective. It discusses the underlying trends in the financial system, as well as the role of finance in relation to money, the real economy and public policy. Financial stability is defined in terms of its ability to help...

Migrant remittances increased strongly since the 1980s, becoming an important and reliable source of funds for many developing countries. Therefore, there is a strong incentive for receiving countries to attract more remittances, especially through formal channels that turn to be either less...

Since the start of the economic transformation in 1978, China has been growing at spectacular level. Given the size and growth of its economy, China is in a position to substantially influence world commodity prices and prices for various consumption goods. This report summarises insights from a...

We first sketch how central banks have used unconventional monetary policy measures by using three indicators based on the composition of the balance sheet of eleven central banks. Our analysis suggests that although the ECB's balance sheet has increased dramatically during the crisis, the...

Country members of EMU as well as the United States have improved their fiscal positions during the course of the past decade. This article considers the impact of further government debt and deficit reductions in the EMU area. First the literature on government finance establishing the role of...

This paper presents a number of scenario analyses, based on simulating DNB's multi-country model EUROMON, for the euro area economy. The scenarios deal with monetary policy and budgetary policy actions, and with exogenous shocks such as changes in oil prices, asset prices and exchange rates. The...