This paper argues that labor markets across Europe vary dramatically in their fundamentals features and rigidities across Europe. Thus, any discussion of an optimum currency area should focus on the differences and the idiosyncratic changes in the labor markets. After demonstrating the vast...

This paper uses a unique comprehensive database on French security assets and liabilities to study the dynamics of domestic and external sectoral portfolios, their network structure, and their role in the propagation of shocks. We first show how the sharp deterioration of the net external...

This paper derives a central bank’s optimal liquidity supply towards a money market with an unrestricted lending facility. We show that when the effect of liquidity on market rates is not too small, and the monetary authority cares for both interest rates and liquidity conditions, then the...

Interest rate derivatives are among the most actively traded financial instruments in the main currency areas. With values of positions reacting immediately to the underlying index of daily interbank rates, manipulation has become an increasing challenge for the operational implementation of...

This paper documents recent trends in international financial flows, based on a newly assembled dataset covering 40 advanced and emerging countries. It highlights four stylized facts: first, the "Great Retrenchment" that took place during the crisis has proved very persistent; second, this fall...

In this paper, we discuss the consequences of taking inot account the variations of the natural real interest rate (rt*) in simple monetary policy rules. We also provide one possible model-based analysis of the level of rt* that has prevailed in the euro area since the early 1970s, and present...

This paper documents recent trends in international financial flows, based on a newly assembled dataset covering 40 advanced and emerging countries. It highlights four stylized facts: first, the "Great Retrenchment" that took place during the crisis has proved very persistent; second, this fall...