Using a comprehensive database of firms in Western and Eastern Europe, the authors study how the business environment in a country drives the creation of new firms. They focus on regulations governing entry, although they also examine the effects of a developed financial sector, a well-trained...

Contents -- 1 A Road Map to "Progress and Confusion" -- Part I The "New Normal" -- 2 Debt Supercycle, Not Secular Stagnation -- 3 Rethinking Secular Stagnation after Seventeen Months -- Part II Systemic Risk and Financial Regulation -- 4 A Note from the Session on Systemic Risk and Financial...

We attempt to identify and explain the broad patterns of financial development in developed countries over the twentieth century. We find that, contrary to the predictions of most existing theories, indicators of financial development do not seem monotonic over time. In particular, we find that...

This paper proposes an objective way of estimating and allocating "differentiated" responsibilities for carbon emissions across countries. These responsibilities translate into specific obligations and incentives for future emission reductions and support for adaptation, mitigation, and...