It has been quite obvious for several years already that the attempts to achieve the aim of price stability are running into the greatest difficulties. While the rates of inflation are escalating in almost all countries, it is becoming increasingly clear at the same time that the authorities...

This paper shows that general equilibrium effects can partly rationalize the high correlation between saving and investment rates observed in OECD countries. We find that once controlling for general equilibrium effects the saving-retention coefficient remains high in the 70’s but decreases...

In this paper we present a novel approach to the empirical validation of the intertemporal approach to the current account. We develop a calibrated model highlighting the role of consumption smoothing and capital accumulation in the economic convergence process. After solving the model, we...

Since the late-1990s, the global economy is characterised by historically low risk premia and an unprecedented widening of external imbalances. This paper explores to what extent these two global trends can be understood as a reaction to three structural shocks in different regions of the global...

We quantify the role of financial factors behind the sluggish post-crisis performance of European firms. We use a firm-bank-sovereign matched database to identify separate roles for firm and bank balance sheet weaknesses arising from changes in sovereign risk and aggregate demand conditions. We...

About a year ago Herr Kurt Ladendorff, auditor in Hamburg, caused quite a sensation with his projected establishment of "europoint", an international conference centre in the Hamburg suburb of Wedel, located in Schleswig-Holstein. Whilst the interest of local papers concentrated on the projected...