The Treasury has, at times, suggested giving greater consideration to reforms to narrow the Saving-Investment gap. However, there has been less discussion of specific policy options for doing this. This paper helps to fill the gap by asking what policy reforms could help to narrow the...

The volume collects the essays presented at the 15th Workshop on Public Finance organised by Banca d'Italia in Perugia from 4 to 6 April 2013. The workshop focused on the link between fiscal policy and macroeconomic imbalances and comprised four sessions. The first session concentrated on the...

Le déficit de balance courante des États-Unis a récemment atteint son plus haut niveau historique – environ 5.2 pour cent du PIB – et, même s’il a légèrement baissé depuis, reste très élevé au regard de l’expérience passée (graphique 1). Un déficit de cette ampleur pour une...

This article uses the OECD’s interlink model to explore several possible channels through which a narrowing of the US current account deficit could occur. The shocks considered include dollar depreciation, fiscal consolidation, and an improvement in the non-price competitiveness of US...

Recent social security reform has significantly improved the long-run sustainability of the pension system. However, the pension system continues to serve as an important barrier to a more rapid expansion of the formal-sector economy in two ways. First, early-retirement incentives (including...

Changes in the global financial system, together with new experience with fixed and floating exchange rates, have resulted in a reassessment of exchange rate strategies for both developed and emerging market economies. The emergence of a currency union in Europe has been seen by some as showing...

This article sets out the "stylised facts" of the last business cycle - what actually happened to the economy during the course of the cycle, and in what respects this was similar to, and different from previous New Zealand economic cycles and experiences internationally.

This paper documents some features of recent trends in bond yields and discusses the drivers of these trends. This includes a discussion of the relationship between fiscal balances and interest rates -- with a summary of key empirical results from the literature provided in the Appendix. The...

This paper analyses the factors influencing the price of oil and its likely evolution over the next quarter century. It begins by investigating the fundamental forces shaping long-term oil price developments, highlighting the importance of growth-led demand for oil, particularly that emanating...

Since the crisis of 2001, an impressive package of fiscal consolidation and institutional reform has created a strong foundation for economic growth. As a result, GDP growth has been strong and stable, inflation has fallen, and the public debt burden has been significantly reduced. Yet the...