The estimation of an ordered probit model for currency reforms trying to end 31hyperinflations and three big inflations of the 20th century shows that the introduction of anindependent central bank and the adoption of a credibly fixed exchange rate are crucial for the successof a currency...

This paper provides empirical evidence in favor of the hypothesis thatthe secular price increase in the 16th century is mainly caused by money supplydevelopments as the discovery of new mines in Latin America. First we reviewprice developments for several European countries over the 16th century...

Global liquidity expansion has been very dynamic since 2001. Contrary to conventionalwisdom, high money growth rates have not coincided with a concurrent rise in goodsprices. At the same time, however, asset prices have increased sharply, significantlyoutpacing the subdued development in...

This paper provides a stylized choice-thoretic model to analyze optimal monetary policies among interdependent economies. In response to marcoeconomic shocks, policymakers strike a balance between two objectives. The first is to stabilize marginal costs and markups to offset the distortions...

This paper analyzes German and Spanish fiscal policy using simple policy rules. We choose Germany and Spain, as both are Member States in the European Monetary Union (EMU) and underwent considerable increases in public debt in the early 1990s. We focus on the question, how fiscal policy behaves...

We use a two-country model with a central bank maximizing union-wide welfareand two fiscal authorities minimizing comparable, but slightly differentcountry-wide losses. We analyze the rivalry between the three authorities inseven static games. Comparing a homogeneous with a heterogeneous...

Past empirical research on monetary policy in open economies has found evidence of the ’delayed overshooting’, the ’forward discount’ and the ’exchange rate’ puzzles. We revisit the effects of monetary policy on exchange rates by applying Uhlig’s (2005) identification procedure that...

Microfoundations of the euro´s effect on euro area trade hinge on the timing, thespeed and the size of adjustment in trade costs. We estimate timing, speed and sizeof adjustment in trade costs for sectoral trade data. Our approach allows for sectorspecific impacts of trade costs on sectoral...

This paper analyzes the evolution of the degree of global cyclicalinterdependence over the period 1960-2005. We categorize the 106 countries in oursample into three groups—industrial countries, emerging markets, and other developingeconomies. Using a dynamic factor model, we then decompose...

We develop a two-country labour-market model characterised by union wage-bargaining, in which the unemployed incur individual-specific costs of seeking work abroad. We explore the effects on equilibrium unemployment and population in each country of changes in union bargaining strength,...