The financial and banking crises in USA in late 2007 led to a decline in economic activities in the industrialized countries, triggering a world-wide recession since then. The ongoing global economic downturn has brought into sharp focus the subject of macroeconomic interdependence of Pacific...

Lax monetary policy in the United States has been pointed out as one of the responsible factors behind the recent global crisis. Similar loose monetary conditions also prevailed in many European countries before the crisis and were argued to be among the accommodating factors behind the run-up...