On 16th November 2009, SUERF, CEPS and the Belgian Financial Forum coorganized a conference "Crisis management at cross-roads" in Brussels. All papers in the present volume are based on contributions at the conference and the SUERF Annual Lecture which followed the event.

Why is the policy of no alternatives so dangerous? -- What does "crisis policy" mean and why do its consequences have a disintegrative effect? -- What are the costs of the low interest rate policy? -- How much was the debt relief for Greece really? -- To what extent do national additional money...

Where is a liability union already evident today? -- To what extent is the reconstruction fund the blueprint for a fiscal-centralist European Monetary Fund? -- Is debt relief coming? -- Are Greek "geuros" and Italian "minibots" as government money the solution? -- Why are national parallel...

The communication policy of the European Central Bank attracts a lot of attention from financial markets. This paper analyses the informational content of the monthly introductory statements of the ECB president explaining interest rate decisions with regard to inflation expectations of...