This paper uses Granger causality tests on a fiscal sustainability indicator (FSI) and currency crises for 17 countries to evaluate the direction of causality between the FSI and currency crises. The FSI developed by Croce and Juan-Ramón (2003) is used. Also, different definitions for currency...

Im Januar 2015 verkündete die Schweizerische Nationalbank, dass die feste Bindung des Franken an den Euro aufgehoben sei und die Währung fortan frei schwanken solle. Dies brachte den Franken unter starken Aufwertungsdruck, wie er für Währungen von Ländern mit persistenten...

Central banks frequently intervene in foreign exchange markets. Using recognized criteria this report analyzes the probability of success in a data set of 4,500 intervention episodes in 33 countries. It is important to differentiate among exchange rate regimes because each focuses on a different...

This paper examines foreign exchange intervention based on novel daily data covering 33 countries from 1995 to 2011. We find that intervention is widely used and an effective policy tool, with a suc cess rate in excess of 80 percent under some criteria. The policy works well in terms of...

Is it common for central banks to intervene in foreign exchange markets in order to influence exchange rates? And if so, is it effective? From a German perspective, these questions seem surprising, since the European Central Bank (ECB) does not intervene in foreign exchange markets-rather, it...

Intervenieren Zentralbanken häufig auf Devisenmärkten, um Wechselkurse zu beeinflussen? Falls ja, ist das effektiv? Aus deutscher Perspektive mögen diese Fragen überraschen: Die Europäische Zentralbank interveniert praktisch nicht auf Devisenmärkten, sondern lässt die Wechselkurse frei...

In this essay, I argue that the explosion of inflation during the Salvador Allende administration in Chile (above 1,500% on a six-month annualized measure) was predictable. The government's use of massive and strict price controls generated acute macroeconomic imbalances. I postulate that the...

This special issue of Comparative Economic Studies, commemorating fifty years since the end of the Bretton Woods system, examines the adjustment of small open economies to floating exchange rates and new monetary policy frameworks. Based on a workshop held at the KOF Swiss Economic Institute in...

The Euro and the RMB are both relatively new currencies traded on the global foreign exchange market. While the Euro was introduced in 2001, China started cross-border settlement in RMB in 2009. We analyse the evolution of Euro trading based on data from the BIS triennial survey and compare the...