How much of the spatial distribution of economic activity today is determined by history rather than by geographic fundamentals? And if history matters for the distribution, does it also affect overall efficiency? This paper develops a tractable theoretical and empirical framework that aims to...

We examine the golden age of U.S. innovation by undertaking a major data collection exercise linking historical U.S. patents to state and county-level aggregates and matching inventors to Federal Censuses between 1880 and 1940. We identify a causal relationship between patented inventions and...

Between 1880 and 1920, the US agricultural employment share fell from 50% to 25%. However, despite aggregate demand shifting away from their sector of specialization, rural labor markets saw faster wage growth and industrialization than non-agricultural parts of the US. We propose a spatial...

We study the joint process of urbanization and industrialization in the US economy between 1880 and 1940. We show that only a small share of aggregate industrialization is accounted for by the relocation of workers from remote rural areas to industrial hubs like Chicago or New York City....

To reinforce the long-term sustainability of public finances, the South African National Treasury has proposed a set of fiscal guidelines informed by three principles, namely: a counter-cyclical fiscal stance, long-term debt sustainability and inter-generational equity. Owing to the sound...

This paper covers fiscal policy tools that promote sustainability and their influence on monetary policy in Russia, the Bank of Russia's role in public debt management and main features of the domestic currency public debt market. At present Russia's budgetary circumstances are quite favourable,...

In the past decade the Colombian economic authorities undertook a series of measures that reduced the structural fiscal deficit, decreased the government currency mismatch and deepened the local fixed-rate public bond market. This paper presents some evidence suggesting that these improvements...

The global financial and debt crisis highlights the need for a better understanding of how fiscal and monetary policies interact. This article examines three aspects of these interactions, as seen from the perspective of the Czech National Bank. It first looks at the effects of fiscal policy on...

This note characterises the evolution of Chile's public debt, and discusses its implications for the management of the country's monetary policy. Historically, the main issuer of public debt in Chile was the central bank. The government, in turn, has recently started to engage in a more active...