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...

We characterize the monetary competitive equilibrium in a two-country monetary union model involving cash-in-advance constraints both in the factor markets and in the good markets. Simulations show that common money inflation in the union have asymmetric effects on the welfare of workers in the...

Although Europe is about to introduce a commom monetary policy with one common European currency, the euro, estimating the expected costs and income is not an easy task. This paper analyzes in-depth the benefits of the euro. The prospects are positive.

In a standard New-Keynesian sticky-price model of monetary policymaking, we show that formulating the policy objective of a monetary union in terms of a weighted average of objectives for inflation and output in each of the member countries, instead of union-wide aggregate inflation and output,...

I develop a model for monetary policy analysis that features significant feedback from asset prices to macroeconomic quantities. The feedback is caused by credit market imperfections, which dynamically affect how efficiently labour and capital are being used in aggregate. I then analyse what...

In a 2-country monetary union, this paper studies a Stackelberg game be- tween the Central Banker and two symmetrical countries. The central banker chooses the money supply. In each country, there is a union who acts as a monopoly of labor supply. Firms are wage and price takers. We analyze the...

This paper analyzes the costs and benefits for an emerging economy to formally adopt dollarization. The magnitude of the costs and benefits involved in this process will not be the same for all countries and depend on the particular characteristics of each economy as well as its relationship...

Some countries may face choice between targeting inflation independently and entering a monetary union that targets inflation. This paper shows that the choice of a country in favour of monetary union may be motivated by asymmetrical supply shocks. The demand shocks are neutralised under these...

About five decades the Franc CFA-Zone in Western and Central Africa was praised as incarnation of economic and political stability in Africa, backed by France. But free convertibility and fixed parity, guaranteed by the French Treasury, mainly served the interest of a small elite of the...

Variations between the diverse pension systems in the member states of the European Union hamper labour market mobility, across country borders but also within the countries of the European Union. From a macroeconomic perspective, and in the light of demographic pressure, this paper argues that...