This paper discusses how the choice of central banks'' operating targets influences the use of their monetary policy instruments and how the latter affect the central bank''s balance sheet. This is of particular interest, since the monetary conditionality in IMF-supported programs has...

It is often argued that fiscal stabilisation in the euro area compares unfavourably with the US, not least because of the perceived limitations of the Stability and Growth Pact. This paper qualifies this perception by taking a closer look at fiscal policy making since the mid-1990s. It examines...

The COVID-19 pandemic has inflicted an economic hardship unprecedented for the modern age. In this paper, we show that the health crisis and ensuing Great Lockdown, came with an unseen level of economic uncertainty. First, using a European dataset on country-level and regional internet searches,...