Since the 2008 financial crisis, a number of economists have suggested that central banks should follow an NGDP targeting rule. Other researchers have argued that a free and unregulated banking system stabilizes NGDP growth as an unintended consequence. We explore this argument in a simple model...

Rafael Correa’s presidency in Ecuador (2007 – 2017) exemplifies left-leaning populist regimes in Latin America. However, there is a key difference: Ecuador is a dollarized economy. This removes the possibility of fiscal dominance over monetary policy as is common in populist regimes. This...

This paper looks at 21st-century dollarization in Latin America. We emphasize that dollarization is a complex reform that can be implemented in many different ways. We draw three important lessons from these experiences: (1) keeping the central bank after dollarizing is an unnecessary...