This paper explores the hypothesis that the non-German members of the European Monetary System (EMS) draw benefits from the system because of the monetary discipline that it imposes upon them. The hypothesis explains the dominant position of Germany in the EMS and is consistent with the evidence...

How much further can we expect the spread of English to go? What are the gains? What are the costs? The paper first tries to identify the areas of life where English already serves as a lingua franca in the world and those where the language faces sharp competition. The discussion goes on to...

What are the prospects that risk-sharing in EMU will ever attain the levels in the US? So far as risk-sharing in the US depends on interregional transfers through the budget of the federal government, those prospects are poor. So far as the risk-sharing in the US takes place though market...

In this paper we test the well-known hypothesis of Obstfeld and Rogoff (2000) that trade costs are the key to explaining the so-called Feldstein-Horioka puzzle. Using a gravity framework in an intertemporal context, we provide strong support for the hypothesis and we reconcile our results with...

Monetäre Disziplin – Deutschland und das Europäische Währungssystem Dieser Aufsatz untersucht die Hypothese, daß alle Mitgliedsländer des Europäischen Währungssystems (EWS) außer Deutschland Nutzen aus diesem System ziehen, weil es ihnen monetäre Disziplin auferlegt. Die Hypothese...