French optical telegraph represented a highly refined blend of software and hardware generating performance levels in long distance communication which were, given the limitations of the hardware, quite remarkable. Had the electromagnetic telegraph not become available, French optical...

Why did Victorian Britain invest so much capital abroad? We collected over 500,000 monthly returns of British and foreign securities trading in London and the United States between 1866 and 1907. These heretofore-unknown data allow us to better quantify the historical benefits of international...

The development of a well adapted financial system was a main part of the successful Swedish economic modernization in the latter half of the nineteenth century. In this paper it is shown that this development followed the pattern of a financial revolution. Major institutional and organizational...

The lessons of the financial and macroeconomic crisis of 2007-2008 made the development of a new macroeconomic forecasting model necessary in the MNB. The model represents a small open economy. It is based on the DSGE philosophy but it deviates from it at several points. The new features of the...

Libor is arguably the world's most important number with more than USD 350 trillion of loans and financial contracts referencing this rate. Libor benchmark interest rates are being replaced with alternative reference rates (ARRs). There is no guarantee Libor rates will continue to be quoted...

We propose a predictor of market bubbles, crashes and corrections that is based on the relationship between the following two ratios: (Market value of the firm compared to its intrinsic value, MV/IV) and the (return on capital of the firm versus its cost of capital, R/C*). We apply the model to...

In this PowerPoint presentation we give an overview of yield curves, show how they are modelled and calibrated and give a brief overview of LIBOR reform.Firstly we explain how to calibrate curves to imply forward rates & discount factors. Secondly, we outline the interpolation, optimization and...

We study the impact that macroeconomic news has on equity prices. While the literature has already widely documented the effects of macroeconomic announcements on asset prices, as well as their asymmetric impact during good and bad times, we focus on the reaction to news when the description of...

In this paper we outline the Lagrangian constrained optimization method to solve complex problems subject to constraints. Firstly we summarize the Lagrangian constrained optimization routine. Secondly we outline a detailed implementation strategy. Thirdly and finally we provide example and solve...

Yield curves are used to imply the forward rates and discount factors from market tradable instruments and are required to discount future cash flows and evaluate the price of all financial contracts. Not all instruments can be included in the yield curve calibration or fitting process, hence we...