High public debt often produces the drama of default and restructuring. But debt is also reduced through financial repression, a tax on bondholders and savers via negative or below market real interest rates. After WWII, capital controls and regulatory restrictions created a captive audience for...

Emerging economies are prone to ‘sudden stops’, characterized by a collapse in external borrowing and aggregate demand. Sudden stops may be triggered by a spike in world interest rates, which causes rapid private sector deleveraging. In response to a rise in interest rates, deleveraging is...

This study measures the proportion of U.S. exchange rate movements that can be accounted for by movements in relative prices of non-traded goods.

The purpose of this study is to assess the economic performance of African countries according to their exchange rate regimes. The methodology is based on the estimation of an empirical growth model that controls for labor productivity, investment share, initial income per capita, and changes in...

Renewed interest in the issue of appropriate exchange rate arrangements, particularly for developing countries, has been prompted by the general increase in global capital modility and the currency and payments crises of the 1990s. Three propositions are currently heard as prescriptions...

This paper provides empirical evidence on the effectiveness of movements in nominal exchange rates in smooting cyclical imbalances between countries, as explained by the literature on optimal currency areas.

This paper provides empirical evidence on the effectiveness of movements in nominal exchange rates in smooting cyclical imbalances between countries, as explained by the literature on optimal currency areas.

This paper reviews the dollarization and currency substitution literature with special regard to its implications for Ghana. It assesses the significance of dollarization in Ghana relative to the experience of other countries and with regard to evidence of increased use of foreign currency in...

In collaboration with the Economic and Financial section of the League of Nation in Geneva, International Labour Organisation built a programme focusing on the causes of economic fluctuations and the monetary policies necessary to counter these fluctuations. Indeed, the view form the Geneva was...

As memories of the East Asian crises of 1997-1998 recede, attention has shifted back to the traditional problems of macroeconomic management in a small open economy. A key question, in this regard, is the appropriate choice of exchange rate regime. While the East Asian crises cased some...