We use a macroeconomic euro area model with a bank sector to study the pro-cyclical effect of the capital regulation, focusing on the extra pro-cyclicality induced by Basel II over Basel I. Our results suggest that this incremental effect is modest. We also find that regulators could offset the...

The debate on the underlying causes of the decline of interest rates to historically low levels is ongoing both in academia and among policy makers. Several explanations have been put forward, ranging from those citing real and structural factors to those underscoring the importance of cyclical...

This paper examines the challenges faced by the European Central Bank since the outbreak of the global financial crisis. From 2008 to 2014, the need to preserve the correct functioning of the monetary policy transmission mechanism and ensure the supply of credit to the private sector stretched...

Since 2013 the inflation rate in the euro area has fallen steadily, reaching all-time lows at the end of 2014. Market-based measures of inflation expectations (such as inflation swaps) have also declined to extremely low levels, which suggests increasing concern about the credibility of the ECB...

This paper analyses the macroeconomic effects of a protracted period of low and falling inflation rates when monetary policy is constrained by the zero lower bound (ZLB) on nominal interest rates and the private sector is indebted in nominal terms (debt-deflation channel). In this scenario, even...

This paper provides evidence of de-anchoring of long-term inflation expectations in the euro area based on both time series and panel methods and data from the ECB Survey of Professional Forecasters. Long-term inflation expectations recorded two sharp and permanent declines: the first after the...

Since the early part of 2010 tensions in the sovereign debt markets of some euro-area countries have progressively distorted monetary and credit conditions, hindering the ECB monetary policy transmission mechanism and raising the cost of loans to non-financial corporations and households. This...

We identify the drivers of the movements in the euro-dollar exchange rate during the sovereign debt crisis. In particular, we show that the announcement of outright monetary transactions (OMT) by the Governing Council of the ECB during the summer of 2012 played a major role in the euro's...

This paper assesses the anchoring of long-term inflation expectations in the euro area, a key issue from a monetary policy perspective, using a range of measures of inflation expectations and methods. The overall reading of the evidence is that long-term inflation expectations in the euro area...