The main tasks of central banks are to secure price and financial stability. These objectives can, in times of crises, conflict with one another, and the central bank may have to renounce one of them in order to secure the other, Li a monetary union, this trade-off can be exacerbated by the...

Depending on the preferences of the central bank, countries in a monetary union tend to accumulate less debt. This reduces the need for fiscal criteria such as debt ceilings. In a monetary union with an independent central bank and a sufficiently large number of relatively small members,...

Not long ago, financial markets in most poor and middle-income countries were shallow to nonexistent, and closed to foreigners. Governments often had to rely on risky borrowing abroad; the private sector had even fewer options. But between 1995 and 2005, domestic debt in the emerging markets grew...

Four years after the start of the worst financial crisis since WWII, developed countries are confronted with the debt crisis. United States of America lost the AAA rating in August, while in Euro Area three countries (Greece, Ireland and Portugal) required financial assistance. The crisis seems...

Ireland and Spain are among the countries where most intense has been the bank-debt vicious circle. Banks were at the forefront of crisis, as a consequence of weak balances, and exposure to real estate. Public support for banks, as well as other expansionary programs, drove public finances to...

It is frequently argued that credit rating agencies (CRAs) have acted procyclically in their rating of sovereign debt in the European Monetary Union (EMU). They are believed to have under-rated sovereign risk in the early years of EMU, when integrated financial markets provided easier access to...

New evidence is presented on the possible existence of bi-directional causal relationships between public debt and economic growth in both central and peripheral countries of the European Economic and Monetary Union. We test for heterogeneity in the bi-directional Granger-causality across both...

Motivated the European debt crisis, we construct a tractable theory of sovereign debt and structural reforms under limited commitment. The government of a sovereign country which has fallen into a recession of an uncertain duration issues one-period debt and can renege on its obligations by...

One solution to the euro crisis as a debt crisis can be found in stimulating economic growth. The Troika has proposed measures to deregulate labor markets in Southern EU countries: a longer working week, relaxation of job dismissal laws, raising the age of retirement. A longer working week for...