Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to study the short‐term macroeconomic effects of the fiscal policy in Colombia for the 1980‐2007 period using a structural vector autoregression (SVAR) model. Design/methodology/approach – The authors' benchmark is a five‐variable SVAR model which...

The Bretton Woods agreements set up the post‐war monetary order on the basis of fixed exchange rates and autonomous national economic policy. Changes in parity were allowed in the case of fundamental disequilibrium, but this concept was not defined, promoting a lengthy but sterile debate. This...

Purpose – The Saint Valentine's Decree (1984) and the ensuing hard‐fought referendum (1985), which reduced the automatisms of scala mobile , started a process of redefinition of wage fixing in Italy, which culminated with the final abolition of scala mobile (1992) and the approval of...

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to examine modern monetary policy as practiced and promoted by the officials of Central Banks, with the Federal Reserve Bank of the USA and the Bank of Japan in leading roles. Design/methodology/approach – Modern monetary policy is assessed for its...

Purpose – This paper seeks compare the current financial and economic problems with the problems facing the world economy in the 1930s. Design/methodology/approach – The paper argues that the Great Depression and the current problems have similar causes – excessive speculation, leading to...

This article develops an analysis of the conventional formation of expectations by means of introducing an overlooked factor in the analysis: the role of inference. Individual inferences and changes in evidential weight of beliefs and in the state of confidence are integrated with an analysis of...

Purpose – The aim of this paper is to examine the proposition that the monetary reform movement has correctly identified the central importance of money‐issue whilst, simultaneously, not appreciated the sophistication of previous monetary theorists. Design/methodology/approach – The...

Purpose – Unemployment is a systemic element of economic development which need not and “normally” does not give rise to full employment of labour regardless of the flexibility in labour markets. This paper aims to address these issues. Design/methodology/approach – The paper presents...