We draw on a new data set on the use of Swiss francs and other currencies by European banks to assess the patterns of foreign currency bank lending. We show that the patterns differ sharply across foreign currencies. The Swiss franc is used predominantly for lending to residents, especially...

We draw on a new data set on the use of Swiss francs and other currencies by European banks to assess the patterns of foreign currency bank lending. We show that the patterns differ sharply across foreign currencies. The Swiss franc is used predominantly for lending to residents, especially...

Since the mid-1980s, unemployment rates in Ireland and the Netherlands have plummeted, while the average rate for the European Union has maintained its longtime high level. Ambitious labor market reforms - including wage moderation and the tightening of unemployment benefits - have helped to...

This article explores the implications of the European single currency within a simple sticky price intertemporal model. We focus on the question of how the euro may change the sensitivity of consumer prices in Europe to exchange-rate changes. Our central conjecture is that the acceptance of the...

This paper explores the implications of the European single currency within a simple sticky price intertemporal model. The main issue we focus on is how the euro may alter the responsiveness of consumer prices to exchange rate changes. Our central conjectures is that the acceptance of the euro...

Earnings on cross-border investments figure only marginally in net estimates of the U.S. current account, but they represent an increasingly large share of gross flows between the United States and other nations. Because these earnings fluctuate much more sharply than trade flows, they can be...

The U.S. dollar plays a key role in international trade invoicing along two complementary dimensions. First, most U.S. exports and imports are invoiced in dollars; second, trade flows that do not involve the United States are often invoiced in dollars, a fact that has received relatively little...