By relying on Protocol No. 7 on the Privileges and Immunities of the European Union, the European Central Bank has emerged as an unlikely hurdle in the national criminal investigations into the financial malpractices of the banking sector in Ireland, Cyprus and, most recently, in Slovenia. This...

In advanced economies, the recent collapse of interest rates to the Zero Lower Bound (ZLB) has triggered a series of research questions on how to navigate the new zero-interest credit environment. Focusing on illegal markets, it is possible to explain why usury still remains widespread after the...

From the New York Times bestselling author of This Time Is Different, “a fascinating and important book” (Ben Bernanke) about the surprising reasons why paper money lies at the heart of many of the world’s most difficult problemsThe world is drowning in cash—and it’s making us poorer...

This paper investigates whether monetary and fiscal policies, such as lump-sum taxes, distortionary taxation and monetization of public deficit, have criminal impacts. We address this question extending the neoclassical monetary growth model. We have demonstrated that fiscal policies affect...