We use a two-sector neoclassical open economy model with traded and non-traded goods to investigate both the aggregate and the sectoral effects of temporary fiscal shocks. One central finding is that both sectoral capital intensities and labor supply elasticity matter in determining the response...

On February 12, 2010, SUERF, the Oesterreichische Nationalbank and the Bankwissenschaftliche Gesellschaft continued their established tradition of jointly organised conferences. As evidenced also by the 115 conference participants, this year's subject of "Contagion and Spillovers – New...

This article reexamines the thesis that fiscal deficits cause trade deficits and challenges this explanation of the twin deficits with the following propositions. Differences in competitiveness among nations do not lead to balanced trade. Using a Eurozone case study, the article discusses the...

The first part of analysis draws out homogenous clusters of countries out of the 27 EU states based on their business cycle synchronicities with the euro area (EA) 12, quantified by correlations of cycles between the 27 countries’ GDP components and the EA12’s GDP1. The purpose is to compare...

Origins and implications of twin deficits occurrence in a large scale of countries seems to be a center of rigorous empirical as well as theoretical investigation for decades. The reality of persisting fiscal and current account deficits became obvious in many advanced as well as advancing,...

Origins and implications of twin deficits occurrence in a large scale of countries seems to be a center of rigorous empirical as well as theoretical investigation for decades. The reality of persisting fiscal and current account deficits became obvious in many advanced as well as advancing,...

This paper gauges the causal relationship between external and budget deficits by using Blanchard's overlapping generations model. This model sests the twin deficits hypothesis (i.e. there is a positive relationship between the deficits) and the Ricardian equivalence hypothesis (i.e. there is no...

This paper attempts to assess how compatible China is with respect to its dollar-based exchange rate regime. Assessment is made in terms of the real convergence criteria suggested by the optimum currency areas (OCA) theory. In light of the endogenous problem in OCA analysis and this view of...

We provide a first comprehensive account of the dynamics of Eurozone countries from the creation of the Euro to the Great recession. We model each country as an open economy within a monetary union and analyze the dynamics of private leverage, fiscal policy and spreads. Our parsimonious model...

Between 1999 and the onset of the economic crisis in 2008 real exchange rates in Greece, Ireland, Italy, Portugal and Spain appreciated relative to the rest of the euro area. This divergence in competitiveness was reflected in the emergence of current account imbalances. Given that exchange rate...