Since January 1999, according to the law, the common monetary policy for all the Economic and Monetary Union (EMU) Member States should be decided by simple majority in the Governing Council (GC) of the European Central Bank (ECB), regarding the Euro area aggregate conditions. Notwithstanding,...

Although euro area-wide inflation was from 1999 to 2005 almost right, i.e., "close to balance, but below 2%," and although it combined with real growth as predicted by the long-run money demand equation in the euro area, the picture that emerges at country level is more scattered. Inside a...

This paper investigates the demand for euros using panel data for 10 euro area countries covering the period from 1999 to 2008. Monetary aggregates are constructed to ensure that money is a national concept by excluding deposits owned by non-residents and including external deposits owned by...

1. Regulatory reasons for the crisis <br>2. Refinancing credit and Target balances <br>2.1 Target balances <br>2.2 Target balances and fiscal rescue credit <br>2.3 The lowering of collateral standards for refinancing credit <br>2.4 Indirect state financing via refinancing credit to commercial banks <br>3. ECB...

1. Regulatory reasons for the crisis 2. Refinancing credit and Target balances 2.1 Target balances 2.2 Target balances and fiscal rescue credit 2.3 The lowering of collateral standards for refinancing credit 2.4 Indirect state financing via refinancing credit to commercial banks 3. ECB...

While the ECB helped mitigate the euro crisis in the aftermath of Lehman, it has stretched its monetary mandate and moved into fiscal territory. This text describes and summarises the crucial role played by the ECB in the intervention spiral resulting from its bid to manage the crisis. It also...

In this paper, we examine the link between political transparency of a common central bank (CCB) and decentralized supply-side fiscal policies in a monetary union. We find that the opacity of a conservative CCB has a restrictive effect on national fiscal policies since each government...