This paper analyses the reaction of fiscal policy to the cycle in OECD countries. The results suggest that while overall government balances were counter-cyclical in the past and more so in economic downturns than in upswings, discretionary fiscal policy was neutral on average. However,...

Les impôts et les transferts en espèces réduisent en France les inégalités de revenu plus que dans beaucoup d’autres pays de l’OCDE en raison de la taille importante des flux concernés. Mais le système est complexe dans son ensemble. Son efficacité pourrait être améliorée à bien...

This paper studies drivers of high-frequency (daily) dynamics of the South African rand vis-à-vis the dollar from January 2001 to July 2007. We find strong nonlinear effects of commodity prices, perceived country and emerging market risk premium and changes in the dollar-euro exchange rate on...