Several countries face the choice between targeting inflation independently or entering a monetary union that targets inflation. The present paper extends the theory of optimum currency areas to deal with this choice. In contrast to the conventional theory, countries are shown to form more of an...

The paper analyses alternative monetary policy regimes within a simple, estimated macroeconomic model with a traded and a non-traded sector. Two general classes of regimes are considered, inflation targeting and exchange rate targeting, where the latter also includes monetary union. By analysing...

The paper discusses the role of fiscal policy as an instrument for macroeconomic stabilisation when monetary policy pursues inflation targeting. Within a theoretical model of an open economy with a traded and non-traded sector, we show that inflation targeting may lead to large sectoral...