This paper describes the construction of a financial stress index. This stress index differs from other indexes in that it incorporates the co-movement and volatility of financial series as well as the levels of the series. Our index also uses past experience more than others to guide the...

This paper shows how economic interdependence affects wage indexation decisions when monetary authorities do not observe stochastic disturbances. Under a managed exchange rate, atomistic wage setters in interdependent nations will choose the same degree of indexation as they would in a small...

In January 1997, the United States Treasury, after years of debate, issued its first inflation-indexed bonds. These securities differ from conventional bonds in that principal and interest payments are linked to a price index. Thus, the purchasing power of an investor's savings is protected from...

We examine the effects of foreign currency-indexed debt upon inflationary expectations in Brazil and Mexico. Conjecturing that markets will view increasing overhangs of foreign currency-indexed debt as a commitment technology that fiscally punishes devaluation, we test whether increasing such...