In this paper we use sovereign quanto-CDS spreads as proxy for redenomination-risk in the Eurozone, i.e., the risk of a sovereign default obtained by the redenomination of debt in a different currency. Quanto-CDS spreads are the difference between the CDS quotes in U.S. dollars and euros. We...

Several countries have already introduced restrictions on trading of cryptocurrencies, and many more are evaluating whether to follow suit. We document an unprecedented drop in trading volume on the Chinese cryptocurrency market after a recent regulatory change by the Chinese authorities that...

We analyze the long-run optimal combination of wealth and labor tax rates in a model where wealth-to-income ratios and wealth inequality are rising endogenously. We consider rich (lenders) and poor (borrowers) households, financial and housing wealth, and find that a ''realistic'' optimal steady...

In this paper we show that results presented in the seminal paper by Yogo, A Consumption Based Explanation of Expected Stock Returns, cannot be replicated. We find different estimates for the parameters and we obtain values of over-identified statistics that being much larger than those in the...

Using a simple two-sector life cycle economy with housing services and bequests, we show that a rising labor efficiency in the general economy relative to the construction sector can go a long way toward explaining a significant fraction of the rising trends in wealth-to-income ratios, housing...

In response to the COVID-19 outbreak, among other previous "non-pharmaceutical interventions'', on March 22, 2020 the Italian Government imposed an economic lockdown and ordered the closing of all non-essential economic activities. This paper estimates the causal effect of this measure on...

The COVID-19 pandemic has sickened more than 10 million people around the world and killed at least 500,000. In this chapter, we focus on the experience of Italy, which is the first country hit by the virus in Europe. While the lockdown measures appear to have successfully contained the virus,...

We start by documenting large differences in bitcoin prices across exchanges located in different countries, or for different fiat currency pairs. For the most reputable exchanges, and after carefully accounting for all the transaction costs and limitations to trade, we find that costly...

Relative bitcoin prices, across locations and currencies, are persistent over time, with the location component accounting for more than 50 percent of the variability. Their distribution is leptokurtic, with negative skewness for fiat pairs, and a standard deviation of 4.5%. Counter- party...

This paper focuses on emerging markets government bonds issued in local currency with different maturities. Foreign investors face interest rate, currency, and credit risks. We consider the entire term structure of carry trade returns and find that, while the default premium does not contribute...