After recalling the quantitative relevance as of end-2019 of “new normal” ultra-low interest rates at world level, a brief discussion is offered of key areas of economic analysis and policy critically impacted by negative nominal interest rates. Specific reference is made to the following...

This paper presents and critically evaluates the bank capital requirement rules proposed by the European Union - the capital requirements directive CRD IV and the capital requirements regulation CRR. First, the rules of the Basel III accord about equity capital standards of banks are briefly...

There has been a long debate about whether speculators are stabilizing or not. We consider a model where speculators have a stabilizing role in normal times, but may also provoke large risk panics. The very feature that makes arbitrageurs liquidity providers in normal times, namely their...

This paper addresses the discussion between economic power and the power of politics with particular focus on financial markets. After general reflections about the economic basis of power, the paper discusses in a general equilibrium framework how financial innovations can lead to risk creation...

Using cross-country data, this paper estimates the impact of the 2007 financial shock on countries' macroeconomic developments conditional on national financial regulations before the crisis. For this purpose, the financial reform index developed by Abiad et al. (A New Database of Financial...

Most econometric studies of equity market integration suggest that national markets are increasingly becoming part of a global equity market. As regards the extent of this integration, however, the results are often inconclusive. Further analysis calls for a closer scrutiny of the basic...

This case study explores which variables—macroeconomic, institutional, and capital controls—are most important in explaining cross-country differences in bond market development. It uses the ratio of amount of local currency bonds outstanding over GDP as a measure of bond market development...

Bei der Suche nach etwas mehr Rendite in Zeiten niedriger Zinsen wenden sich Kleinanleger verstärkt hin zum Crowdfunding. Doch Ertrag und Risiko sind auch im Crowdfunding sowie bei allen anderen Finanzgeschäften strikt positiv miteinander korreliert. Das heißt, der Investor kann durch...

Die Finanzkrise hat die Politik mit der Aufgabe konfrontiert, Banken und internationale Finanzmärkte besser zu kontrollieren. Dies ist bisher nur unzureichend gelungen. An der Bankenregulierung wird deutlich, dass es für ein effizientes Funktionieren der Finanzmärkte erforderlich ist, die...

On September 3-4, 2009 SUERF and Utrecht University School of Economicsorganized the Colloquium "The Quest for Stability" in Utrecht, the Netherlands. The papers included in this SUERF Study are based on contributions to the Colloquium.