An essay contending that a central bank interested in maintaining price stability gains little from exchange-market intervention, particularly when it acts jointly with fiscal authorities.

An argument against attempts to achieve current-account objectives through monetary manipulation of nominal exchange rates, with an explanation of why such tampering--which for various reasons might appear politically attractive--ultimately harms economic welfare.

An examination of the ability of foreign exchange intervention to signal upcoming changes in monetary policy, showing that for such a signaling mechanism to make sense, the link between intervention and monetary policy should be clear, the implied policy should be credible, and information about...

Foreign-exchange-market intervention is generally ineffective when undertaken independent of monetary policy. But when undertaken as a goal of monetary policy, exchange-rate management can compromise price stability. This Economic Commentary explains the difficulties of implementing an...

This paper reports the results of a survey among private sector economists about credibility and transparency of central banks. In line with the survey of Alan Blinder among central bankers, we asked participants in Ifo s World Economic Survey to answer questions on the importance and...

This paper builds a model-based dynamic monetary and fiscal conditions index (DMFCI) and uses it to examine the evolution of the joint stance of monetary and fiscal policies in the euro area (EA) and in its three largest member countries over the period 2007-2018. The index is based on the...