While the European Monetary Union (EMU) is now a real ity, debate among economists nonetheless continues about the design and desirability of monetary unions.Since an essential element of a monetary union is the delegation of monetary power to a single centralized entity, one of the key issues...

This paper explores the gains to monetary union. We consider a two-country overlapping generations model. Agents work when young and have random tastes over the composition (domestic vs. foreign goods) of old age consumption. In equilibrium, governments require that local currncy be used for...

This paper studies the inflationary implications of interest bearing regional debt in a monetary union. Is this debt simply backed by future taxation with no inflationary consequences? Or will the circulation of region debt induce monetization by a central bank? We argue here that both outcomes...

This paper studies the effects of monetary policy rules in a fiscal federation, such as the European Union. The focus of the analysis is the interaction between the fiscal policy of member countries (regions) and the monetary authority. Each of the countries structures its fiscal policy...

This paper studies the effects of monetary policy rules in a fiscal federation, such as the European Union. The focus of the analysis is the interaction between the fiscal policy of member countries (regions) and the monetary authority. Each of the countries structures its fiscal policy...

We study the relationship between social segmentation and income inequality by means of the economic theory of clubs with private provision of the club good. After having characterized the equilibrium partition of society in clubs and investigating its characteristics, we show how the clubs'...

Au cours des vingt dernières années, la gouvernance des banques centrales a évolué en matière d’indépendance, de responsabilité, de transparence et de gestion interne. Les banques centrales des pays émergents et en développement, notamment en Afrique subsaharienne, n’échappent pas...