The financial turmoil of the late 1990s prompted a broad search for tools and techniques for detecting and preventing financial crises, and more recent episodes of instability have high lighted the importance of continuous monitoring of financial systems as a tool for preventing crises. This...

The slow-paced growth rate of the U.S. economy, notwithstanding the bolstering attempts is disheartening. Implementing financial reforms and highly accommodative monetary policy are hoped to have a desired effect. Deficit reduction, debt ratio stabilizing strategies, removal of fiscal cliff...

The Canadian monetary and fiscal policies have remained accommodative, reflecting in large measure the effective response to the crisis. Canada is expected to set the appropriate policy mix in the future, at a time of high uncertainty and significant external headwinds. Given the advanced stage...

This 2008 Article IV Consultation highlights that problems in the housing and financial markets over the past year have combined to slow the United States’ economy substantially. As the residential investment downturn accelerated and national indices of housing prices started falling,...

This Selected Issues paper summarizes estimates of the gap between current housing prices and their equilibrium levels in the United States. It examines short-term dynamics of price adjustment. Reflecting uncertainties about how to analyze underlying housing price trends, two approaches are used...

The staff report for the Netherlands’ 2009 Article IV Consultation describes the economic developments and policies. State interventions in the financial sector have been broadly appropriate and consistent with a sound fix-it-and-exit approach. Measures have included capital injections,...

Canadian house prices have increased significantly between 2003 and early 2008, with a marked downward trend since mid-2008, especially in the resource-rich western provinces. This paper estimates the evolution of equilibrium real home prices during this period in key provinces and finds that,...

In this study, China’s economic developments and policies are discussed. Economic growth has been increased by expanding infrastructure and real estate construction. The policy measures outlined in the twelfth five-year plan and implementation of financial reform are important for...

The U.S. economy continues to recover at a modest pace, in line with international experience following severe financial crises. The key priority for fiscal policy is to stabilize the debt ratio and gradually reduce it. The fiscal framework should include an endorsement of the main medium-term...