This paper discusses macroeconomic and monetary thought at the European Commission in the 1960s. It is based on an analysis of public documents, archival research, as well as a large scale programme of interviews. The paper starts with an overview of the economic philosophy of the Rome Treaties...

Keynesian economics dominated economic thought and macroeconomic policy-making in the 1950s and 1960s. However, the diffusion of Keynesian economics has been uneven. In this paper, we compare the spread of Keynesian economics in two continental European countries: Belgium and Italy. We focus on...

J. R. Hick's paper "A Suggestion for Simplifying the Theory of Money" (1935) can be considered as a prefiguration of modern macroeconomic portfolio theory. It is argued here that this innovation was not a historical accident. It fit into Lionel Robbins' program to elaborate economics as the...

One of the distinguishing features of Belgian economics is that, from the early 1920s, so many of Belgium's best economists pursued postgraduate studies at top American universities, a case of 'temporary' migration. This was made possible by the fellowships granted by the Commission for Relief...

In the literature on European monetary integration Germany and Italy are mostly strongly contrasted. However, this paper argues that there were important similarities between the policy paradigms in these two countries, in particular if a broader historical perspective is adopted. This work...

The creation of the National Bank of Belgium (NBB) in 1850 marked a fundamental reform of the Belgian financial system. It clearly aimed at rendering the financial system more crisis resistant, especially by restricting the leverage of the banking sector. The NBB, which received the privilege to...

Among the international policy institutions, the Bank for International Settlements (BIS) is known for its sensitivity to financial stability issues. Typical for the BIS is a �macro-prudential� approach. In this paper, it is argued that Alexandre Lamfalussy, who was at the BIS from...