Neoclassical economic theory views current account imbalances as the result of (individual) decisions to save more than to invest domestically, in line with the loan-able funds doctrine. Monetary analysis in the Keynesian tradition rejects such approaches and emphasizes that a country's net...

The rise of crypto currencies, notably bitcoin, has fueled new and old debates about money. We discuss attempts to complement or replace fiat money by ‘stablecoins'. In a first step, we review today‘s endogenous and debt-backed money. Second, we analyse attempts to use stablecoins in order...

In the aftermath of the 2008 financial crisis, the GDPs of the US and the eurozone have grown astonishing slowly and have not yet recovered their pre-crisis rates, as of 2016. Here, we argue that, in order to escape further sluggish growth, we need to diagnose the present ailments as rooted in...

Since the global financial crisis, the Swiss National Bank has been accumulating reserve assets amounting to the size of the Swiss GDP. Yet, the Swiss franc is still considered to be significantly over-valued. This paper analyzes the drivers behind the new situation and discusses challenges and...

Exchange rates are crucial variables for each economy as they affect the price at which a country can exchange goods and services with other currency areas. A strong domestic currency makes it relatively cheap to import goods and services, but at the same time renders domestic goods and services...