This paper compares welfare levels under alternative fiscal rules for small open, commodity exporter, economies whose fiscal income varies with the world commodity price (in a dynamic, stochastic, and general equilibrium setting). Between the extremes of a procyclical balanced budget policy and...

We compare welfare levels under two alternative fiscal rules: a procyclical balanced budget policy and an acyclical structural surplus (government accumulates assets). We use a dynamic, stochastic, general equilibrium model. The acylical rule benefits households that do not enjoy access to...

This 2003 Institute for Fiscal Studies Lecture addresses two sets of issues relevant to current and prospective future E(M)U members: the consequences of the Stability and Growth Pact for fiscal-financial sustainability and macroeconomic stability, and some risks associated with operational...

We examine the first widespread use of capital controls in response to a global or regional financial crisis. In particular, we analyze whether capital controls mitigated capital flight in the 1930s and assess their causal effects on macroeconomic recovery from the Great Depression. We find...

We examine the first widespread use of capital controls in response to a global or regional financial crisis. In particular, we analyze whether capital controls mitigated capital flight in the 1930s and assess their causal effects on macroeconomic recovery from the Great Depression. We find...

South Africa's 40 years of experience with capital controls on residents and non-residents (1961-2001) reads like a collection of examples of perverse unanticipated effects of legislation and regulation.We show that the presence of capital controls on residents and non-residents, enabled the...

The purpose of this paper is to challenge couple of dangerous theoretical misconceptions in open-economy macro, namely, in respect to desirability or sustainability of available exchange rate regimes and inflation targeting framework and their mutual compatibility in small open economies with...

Can the structure of asset markets change the way monetary policy should be conducted? Following a linear-quadratic approach, the present paper addresses this question in a New Keynesian small open economy framework. Our results reveal that the configuration of asset markets significantly...

The novelty of this work is in the presentation of a theoretical frame work that allows the modeling of an announced switch of the monetary regime. In our experiment, the monetary authority announces stabilization of the nominal exchange rate after the announced number of periods. We analyze the...

This paper studies the long-run welfare effect of the extra volatility of country spread due to the possibility of sudden stops. Both analytical and numerical results show that sudden stops have weaker output impact when the small open economy is more open to trade. However, welfare consequences...