Using recent advances in time-varying spectral methods, this research analyses the growth cycles of the core of the euro area in terms of frequency content and phasing of cycles. The methodology uses the con-tinuous wavelet transform (CWT) and also Hilbert wavelet pairs in the setting of a...

As a response to the concerns over the scale of banking failures in several OECD countries over the last decade, this paper explores the advantages of the new market disclosure regime that was implemented in New Zealand in 1996. It finds that, although New Zealand has many special features which...

This paper argues that, despite the substantial independence offered by the Maastricht Treaty, the ESCB will wish to bind itself by a set of voluntary rules in the conduct of monetary policy. This binding will occur because of the demands of policy itself. The ESCB as such has no history of a...

The aim of the present analysis is to shed light on the question whether Central Banks should publish their macroeconomic forecasts, and what could possibly be gained in monetary policy if they did so. We show that disclosing the Central Bank’s assessment of the prevailing inflationary...

In the European Economic Area the home country supervises the activities of its banks, wherever they are operating via branches or across borders, while the host country handles the stability of its financial system and problems stemming from failure or distress. We address two main problems...

Unemployment is now the key issue for economic policy in the OECD and Europe in particular. By examining data from the period 1962–1996 for two highly different small open OECD economies, Finland and New Zealand, in a VEC model this paper seeks to cast light on three questions: the degree to...