Recently, the calls for closer monetary co-operation between the Asian NICs and Japan have been becoming louder. The following article discusses the pros and cons of pegging to the yen and compares them with those of a basket peg.

Leaving foreign exchange markets to themselves may not lead to realistic and stable exchange rates. Thus appropriate criteria for interference must be defined. The OPTICA (Optimal Currency Area) Group which was appointed by the European Commission tried to work out appropriate rules for the EC....

The Asian Pacific countries do not only show unparalled growth dynamics, they are also in the process of growing ever closer together. There is already talk of the creation of a new economic bloc. The following article analyses private direct investment in the Asian Pacific area, an element in...

East Asian nations, which not long ago were counted among the more backward, are emerging as dramatically expanding markets as well as tough competitors for the United States. Predictions are that the Pacific-rim economy will expand twice as fast as the rest of the world. Professor Jens...

Japan's meteoric economic rise, the hardly less impressive growth of a number of newly industrialised countries in South-East Asia and the enormous mineral wealth of the region have long caused academic and political observers to show keen interest in the economies of the Pacific. Proposals for...