The development of the European Monetary Union is related to Milton Friedman's critique of the Bretton Woods System that started a vigorous debate about “fixed versus flexible exchange rates.” This paper contrasts briefly the arguments pro and con flexible exchange rates at this time. After...

This paper forms part of a series of nine studies on the role of the European Union in international economic fora, prepared by Policy Department A at the request of the Committee on Economic and Monetary Affairs of the European Parliament. It provides factual background information about the...

The article analyses recent tendencies in the monetary system with an emphasis on events taking place in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) member states. The importance of these countries goes far beyond oil deliveries as their surpluses stemming from oil export have become a key pillar in...

Economists in the public are accused of propagating highly professional, but unrealistic theories that mislead market agents and policy makers to place too much confidence in rational behaviour and market equilibrium. The paper analyses to what extent the US banking crisis and the euro crisis...

This paper investigates whether, and if so, to what extent, Level 3 fair values disclosed by European banks provide useful information to investors and are reflected in firm value changes. Using a unique sample of 416 hand-collected firm-year observations from European banks reporting under...

This paper documents macroeconomic forecasting during the global financial crisis by two key central banks: the European Central Bank and the Federal Reserve Bank of New York. The paper is the result of a collaborative effort between the two institutions, allowing us to study the time-stamped...

The eurozone sovereign debt crisis, characterized by enormous debt burdens faced by its weakest economies, has also induced a parallel credit crunch and illiquidity concerns for European banks. Bank holdings of sovereign debt issued by peripheral eurozone countries have dropped in value and are...

The eurozone, composed of 17 countries which have adopted the euro as their currency, has been struggling with an apparently-intractable crisis over the enormous debts faced by its weakest economies and by countries impacted by the bursting of the housing boom in the past global recession of...

The lack of a strong law enforcement authority in the EU with competence in criminal matters that monitors how European funds are applied can be considered one of the main reasons behind the disastrous spending of EU member states. This paper contends that EU funds are to be treated as...