In contrast to earlier recessions, the monetary regimes of many small economies have not changed in the aftermath of the global financial crisis. This is due in part to the fact that many small economies continue to use hard exchange rate fixes, a reasonably durable regime. However, most of the...

Credit rating agencies (CRAs) play a central role in the debt (bond) markets of many countries. CRAs have also attracted a considerable amount of public and policy attention during the past decade, especially with respect to their role in the financial crisis of 2008–2009 and their role in the...

Financial systems and public treasuries are communicating vessels: strength or weakness in one flows to the other, and back. This chapter considers the implications of this insight using case studies from Europe, Asia, and Latin America. The connection is not unique to Europe, although it does...

Ever more extensive global financial linkages are changing in ways that have significant implications for policy. Asia-Pacific countries have experienced a particularly rapid growth in financial flows since the crisis. Against this background, the BIS's Representative Office for Asia and the...

We examine the propagation mechanisms of the US financial crisis that erupted in 2008 on the Asian economy, which was tightly linked to the US through exports and financial relationships. While two possible propagation channels, trade and financial channels, are identified in previous...

We investigate the importance of a global financial cycle for gross capital inflows based on monthly balance sheet data for Norwegian banks. The VIX index has been interpreted as an "investor fear gauge" and associated with a global financial cycle. This index has also been found to impact real...

The recent financial crisis has triggered a major rethink of analytical approaches and policy toward financial stability. The crisis has encouraged a sharper focus on systemic risk, the inclusion of a financial sector in macroeconomic models, a shift from a microprudential to a macroprudential...

Introduction -- 1 What is money? -- A History of Money and Banking -- 2 Money from the very beginning -- 3 Banks enter the scene -- 4 The dawn of modern banking -- 5 The creation of a paper currency -- 6 Modern banking comes of age -- 7 The role of banks in a modern economy -- II An Analysis of...