This paper discusses policies that monetary policy authorities could implement in response to a generalized and persistent decline in goods and services prices. The authors argue that in such situation the priority should be to defend the credibility of monetary policy. They differentiate...

This paper surveys the recent literature on optimal currency areas (OCAs). Topics that are covered include theoretical developments in the context of general-equilibrium models and empirical work on shocks asymmetry and adjustment mechanisms. Issues relating to the endogeneity of OCA criteria,...

In the 90s, the behaviour of US inflation has been a puzzle for many analysts; for eight years, the unemployment rate remained below 6% without giving rise to a significant acceleration of prices and wages. Once again, both the theoretical and empirical relevance of the Phillips curve has been...