We evaluate the proposal for official dollarization in Costa Rica by applying a new approach to measure the business cycle comovements with the United States. While the literature often focuses on the correlation of shocks, we point out that the response of each country to the shocks is also an...

Most EU member states will adopt fiscal rules that refer to cyclically-adjusted borrowing limits. Under the standard cyclical adjustment procedure, trend increases in public debt based on cyclical components are prevented if the real-time output gaps used to calculate cyclical components balance...

1 Introduction.- 2 Literature Review -- 3 Descriptive Analysis -- 4 Determinants of Business Cycle Synchronistion -- 5 Shock Propagation Mechanisms and Business Cycle Convergence -- 6 Summary and Policy Implications -- 7 Appendix -- References