The paper evaluates the present and future international currency status of the US dollar, the euro and the yen. In section two the functions, benefits, and costs of a leading international currency are discussed. In section three key determinants for the continuous dominance of the US dollar...

The capital structure of firms that face restrictions on liquidity (i.e. that cannot hedge continuously) is affected by the agency costs and moral-hazard implicit in the contracts they establish with stockholders and customers. It is demonstrated in this paper that then an optimal level of...

The demand for cash balances of financial intermediaries that establish contractual liabilities with credit-sensitive customers is characterized. As stated by Merton, the success of the business activities of such firms crucially depends on their credit quality, and hence, they are obliged to...

This paper analyzes empirically the impact of fiscal policy on the price level for Germany and Spain. We investigate, whether the fiscal theory of the price level (FTPL) is able to deliver a reasonable explanation for the different evolutions of the price levels in these two countries during...

This paper analyses the implications of a continued divergence of TARGET2 balances for monetary policy in the euro area. The accumulation of TARGET2 claims (liabilities) would make ECB’s liquidity management asymmetric once the TARGET2 claims in core countries have crowded out central bank...

Lack of coordination between the monetary and fiscal authorities will result in inferior overall economic performance. This paper studies the interactions between monetary and fiscal policies and its effect on the economic performance by using al cointegration tests in the case of Euro Area....

The welfare state was created after 1950 with counterproductive mechanisms and this caused high inflation and high unemployment and stagnating growth by 1970, called stagflation. Since 1970 governments redressed the welfare state but did not succeed in finding workable mechanisms. They rather...

Résumé: Une zone-cible du taux d’inflation comporte une borne supérieure et une borne inférieure clairement annoncées par les autorités monétaires. Ces dernières assurent la crédibilité de cette zone par des interventions ponctuelles sur les marchés financiers lorsque le taux...

An alternative theoretical setting is presented to characterise the money demand and the monetary equilibrium. Two main hypotheses are stated that contradict the assumptions normally sustained by scholars and policy-makers: National output is assumed to be a random variable, and people are...

Our study analyses the extent of integration of the EU market for life and non-life insurance. The main integration indicator used is the market share (premium based) of foreign companies in domestic markets. For the calculation of this indicator, three different kinds of foreign presence are...