This paper provides a detailed description of the current version of the Ecofin Council approved production function (PF) methodology which is used for assessing both the productive capacity (i.e. potential output) and cyclical position (i.e. output gaps) of EU economies. Compared with the...

The current crisis revealed the unsustainable levels of private sector indebtedness, fuelled by a prolonged period of rapid credit expansion during the upturn phase in some EU Member States. The subsequent deleveraging process now taking place, although necessary, stands as a source of concern...

This article describes kountry, a data-management command that can be used to translate one country-coding scheme into another, to recode country names into a "standardized form", and to generate geographic-region variables. Users can build a custom dictionary through a helper command,...

This paper uses an estimated DSGE model to analyze the factors behind the buildup of imbalances in the Spanish economy. Shock decompositions suggest that external imbalances have been able to build up mainly due to the reduction in real interest rates and easier access to credit following the...