A monetary union among autonomous countries cannot simultaneously maintain an independent monetary policy, national fiscal sovereignty and a no-bailout clause. These three features make up an impossible trinity, and attempts to preserve all three concurrently will ultimately end in failure. In...

Before a new financial architecture can be established in the wake of the financial crisis, the increasing importance of the global financial market channel must be fully understood. This importance was illustrated by the unexpectedly strong dampening effects of the financial crisis on the real...

A number of tools have been suggested for solving the European sovereign debt crisis, in particular the options of leveraging the EFSF/ESM, introducing Eurobonds and a European Troubled Asset Relief Programme (Euro-TARP). However, it is unclear how these instruments will work, given jittery...

Against the background of the present financial crisis Otmar Issing and Jan Krahnen, members of the expert commission advising the German government on issues relating to financial crisis prevention, have suggested the creation of a "global risk map" to be enhanced by a global credit register....

Increasing global capital flows are principally beneficial for the improved international allocation of capital, credit and risks, but this process is not without risks for global financial stability. Expanded global monitoring of international capital flows should deepen our knowledge of the...