It is widely argued that Europe's unified monetary policy calls for the international coordination at the fiscal level. We survey the issues involved with such coordination of fiscal policy as a demand management tool and we use a simple model to investigate the cincumstances under which...

Das MEMORANDUM 2009 handelt von einer dramatischen Situation: Die Weltwirtschaftskrise ist auch in Deutschland angekommen. Was sind deren Ursachen, welche spezifische Ausprägung nimmt sie hierzulande an, warum und wodurch wird sie bei uns noch verschärft? Die Arbeitsgruppe Alternative...

EMU started with eleven member countries as scheduled on January 1, 1999. The paper shows that the primacy of politics over economics in this decision could have serious consequences concerning the stability of EMU in the transition phase. Speculative attacks against currencies which are in...

It is widely argued that Europe''s unified monetary policy calls for international coordination at the fiscal level. We survey the issues involved in such coordination in the perspective of macroeconomic stabilization. A simple model identifies the circumstances under which coordination may be...

Real Wage Rigidities, Fiscal Policy, and the Stability of EMU in the Transition Phase. - EMU will start with eleven member countries as scheduled on January 1, 1999. The paper shows that the primacy of politics over economics in this decision could have serious consequences concerning the...

The paper shows that the primacy of politics over economics in the decision to start EMU with eleven countries on January 1, 1999 could have serious consequences concerning the functioning and stability of EMU, in particular during the transition phase. The paper demonstrates empirically that...

This paper examines the effect of global transition to simpler, flatter income tax systems on the size of the shadow economy. By offering a new estimation framework, the paper revives the traditional electricity consumption approach to measuring the shadow economy. It overcomes the limitations...