Several East Asian countries suffered a sudden stop, with massive and unexpected capital outflows, in 1997-98. Latin American countries, in spite of their more checketed financial past, were much less severely hit at the time (of course, several have had crises since). Why this asymmetry between...

Original sin, coupled with other financial imperfections, causes macroeconomic penance of two kinds: adverse shocks have larger and more persistent effects and monetary policy becomes less effective as a shock absorber. But macroeconomic damnation is not inevitable: in some cases, suitable...

Using an optimizing model we compare alternative monetary policy rules and exchange rate regimes for a small stochastic open economy with imperfect competition and short run price rigidity. The criteria to choose among rules and regimes are obtained using a welfare criterion derived from the...

This paper studies how the effect of trade openness on economic growth depends on complementary reforms that help a country take advantage of international competition. This issue is illustrated with a simple Harris-Todaro model where output gains after trade liberalization depend on the degree...

The last financial crisis revealed that financial imperfections and institutions play a more important role than the literature has assigned them for a long time, and it is possible to ascertain strongly that in the coming years macroeconomic research will be dominated by the study of the...

This paper discusses theoretical and practical aspects of the various unconventional central bank policies during the 2008-2009 crisis. In terms of theory, we first discuss the role of credibility in the attainment of inflationary goals once the nominal interest rate is at a lower bound, paying...