A series of crisis and emergency interest rate cuts has brought global interest rates towards zero and government debt to historical records. The paper discusses the exit options from unconventional monetary policies and unsustainable government debt. First, the paper sheds light on the...

In this paper, we empirically test the determinants of growth, as derived from a semi-endogenous growth model, in terms of its poverty-reducing effects. We base our empirical analysis of the growth and distribution effect of economic policies on a panel data set of 59 developing countries,...

Vigorous debate over the effectiveness of the fiscal adjustment programmes for the crisis-stricken countries in the eurozone has grown quite polarised. In this Forum, several experts use analytical, evidence-based approaches to gauge the effectiveness of these programmes. The role played by the...

Deviations of policy interest rates from the levels implied by the Taylor rule have been persistent before the financial crisis and increased especially after the turn of the century. Compared to the Taylor benchmark, policy rates were often too low. This paper provides evidence that both...

We propose an alternative way of estimating Taylor reaction functions if the zero‐lower bound on nominal interest rates is binding. This approach relies on tackling the real rather than the nominal interest rate. So if the nominal rate is (close to) zero central banks can influence the...

Since the outbreak of the financial market crisis central banks all across the world have tried to counteract the economic downturn with at least partly unconventional measures. This contribution reviews the measures taken in the eurozone and points out that the ECB acted less unconventionally...

This paper describes the concept of financial repression. Under this regime, states aim at reducing the burden of their public debt by repressive measures aimed at financial markets, steady inflation rates and low nominal interest rates. In the past, such policies were widespread in many...

Die Finanzkrise 2007/2008 und die derzeitige "Euro-Krise" stellen das bisherige Weltwährungssystem in Frage. Sie legt die Schwächen des aktuellen Systems schonungslos offen und zeigt, welchen herausragenden Stellenwert das internationale Währungssystem nach wie vor für die Stabilität von...

A non-linear model is applied where suddenly strong spurts of exports occur when changes of the exchange rate go beyond a zone of inaction. We call the latter a "play" area - analogous to mechanical play and implement an algorithm describing path-dependent playhysteresis into a regression...

This paper argues that, under certain conditions, firms consider export activity as a substitute of serving domestic demand. Our econometric model for six euro area countries suggests domestic demand pressure and capacity constraint restrictions as additional variables of a properly specified...