This note shows that the aggregate fiscal expenditure stimulus in the United States, properlyadjusted for the declining fiscal expenditure of the fifty states, was close to zero in 2009. Whilethe Federal government stimulus prevented a net decline in aggregate fiscal expenditure, it didnot...

This note shows that the aggregate fiscal expenditure stimulus in the United States, properly adjusted for the declining fiscal expenditure of the fifty states, was close to zero in 2009. While the Federal government stimulus prevented a net decline in aggregate fiscal expenditure, it did not...

Developing Asia experienced a sharp surge in foreign currency reserves prior to the 2008-9 crisis. The global crisis has been associated with an unprecedented rise of swap agreements between central banks of larger economies and their counterparts in smaller economies. We explore whether such...

This note investigates the impact of greater income inequality on the tax base, on the defactofiscal space, and the sovereign spreads. Using data from 50 countries in 2005 and in 2010,we find that higher income inequality is associated with a lower tax base, lower de-facto fiscalspace, and...

We analyze the way in which Latin American countries have adjusted to commodityterms of trade (CTOT) shocks in the 1970-2007 period. Specifically, we investigate the degreeto which the active management of international reserves and exchange rates impacted thetransmission of international price...

This paper studies the cross-country variation of the fiscal stimulus and the exchange rate adjustmentpropagated by the global crisis of 2008-9, identifying the role of economic structure in accounting for theheterogeneity of response. We find that greater de facto fiscal space prior to the...

Developing Asia experienced a sharp surge in foreign currency reserves prior to the 2008-9 crisis.The global crisis has been associated with an unprecedented rise of swap agreements betweencentral banks of larger economies and their counterparts in smaller economies. We explorewhether such swap...

The end of the great moderation has profound implications on the assessment of fiscalsustainability. The pertinent issue goes beyond the increase in stock of public debt/GDP inducedby the global recession, to include the perspective that the sustainability of a given publicdebt/GDP depends on...

We examine the open macroeconomic policy choices of developing economies from the perspectiveof the economic “trilemma†hypothesis. We construct an index of divergence of the threetrilemma policy choices, and evaluate its patterns in recent decades. We find that the threedimensions of...

This paper analyzes reforms and adjustments in the context of the Euro and the global financialcrises. Taking the perspective of the evolutionary approach to institutions, the formation of a newcurrency area is not unidirectional. The process leading to the euro is an example of a commonupbeat...