The 1955-56 macroeconomic crisis is a central event in modern Irish history. Yet, despite this centrality, its causes are not clearly understood. In 1955-6, Ireland, which had previously followed British interest rates in lockstep as part of its fixed exchange with the latter, briefly...

The 1955-56 macroeconomic crisis is a central event in modern Irish history. Yet, despite this centrality, its causes are not clearly understood. In 1955-6, Ireland, which had previously followed British interest rates in lockstep as part of its fixed exchange with the latter, briefly...

The rise of cryptocurrencies over the past decade has promised to challenge the dominance of fiat money systems and reshape monetary policy. However, recent developments, including market volatility and the collapse of key exchanges like FTX, have eroded public trust, raising skepticism of a...

The distributional and disruptive effects of energy supply shocks are potentially large. We study the effectiveness of alternative fiscal responses in a two-country HANK model calibrated to the euro area. Subsidies can stabilize the domestic economy, but they are fiscally costly and generate...

Southern African Development Community (SADC) and East African Community (EAC) countries are exploring the feasibility of establishing a monetary union. This study assesses the economic integration in the two blocs, using the interest rate pass‑through mechanism to determine the convergence of...

The 1992 Maastricht Treaty, laid the foundations for the current European Union with its single market in goods, services, capital and labour and established the framework for the creation of the single currency. We study countries that differ in the extent to which they share a common currency...

The study analysed the macroeconomic developments in the West African Monetary Zone (WAMZ), focusing on macroeconomic imbalances for the period 2001-2022. The variables of interest in this study include inflation rate, real Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth rate, current account balance,...

We use a theoretical model to set up the conditions for a country to attain monetary stability by allowing for two freely tradable currencies to circulate in parallel. For this parallel system to function properly, confidence in the good behavior of the monetary authorities in charge of the two...

This paper analyzes the role of the nature of traded goods in the effect of the real exchange rate on the trade balance in West African Economy and Monetary Union countries. Empirically, the estimation of the parameters of a distributed lag autoregressive model using the technique of dynamic...

This paper challenges the prevailing view in the sovereign debt literature by arguing that sovereign debt markets, in many respects, behave similarly to other credit markets. These markets are hierarchical rather than flat, inherently hybrid in nature, blending elements of public order and...

A monetary approach that combines Chartalism, Nominalism, and Command origins of monetary systems is often deemed to have emerged only recently, while the Aristotelian approach (Commodity, Metallism, and Market origins of monetary systems) is the only one that existed until the end of the...

This paper uses a structural approach to analyse economic convergence within the West African Economic and Monetary Union (WAEMU) countries. This Regional Economic Community has recorded several postponements of the convergence horizon defined by the Economic Commission. However, it is a...

Using a novel dataset that integrates inflation expectations with information on social network connections, we show that inflation expectations within one's social network have a positive, causal relationship with individual inflation expectations. This relationship is stronger for groups that...

This paper applies unsupervised machine-learning techniques to a set of nominal and industrial sector production variables to examine the convergence of European Monetary Union (EMU) member countries, focusing on macroeconomic and structural homogeneity. Our findings reveal distinct clusters of...

This paper assesses the impact of pegging the CFA franc to the euro - at a fixed parity - on real GDP per capita in the West African Economic and Monetary Union (WAEMU) and the Central African Economic and Monetary Community (CAEMC) countries. Using a set of 35 annual country-level panel data...

The objective of this research is to assess the effect of holding government securities on the credit channel, taking into account the heterogeneity of WAEMU banks' balance sheets. The methodology adopted to achieve this objective is VAR panel modelling, proposed by Abrigo and Love. The...

This paper reviews the main arguments underpinning the reform of the EU's fiscal framework, which has culminated in the adoption by the EU legislators of a revised set of rules for the European economic governance including the Stability and Growth Pact (SGP). It takes a chronological approach...

This paper discusses recent challenges in BCEAO monetary policy, from a recent spike in inflation, the persistent erosion of external reserves, and strains in the regional financial market. In response to these shocks, the BCEAO operated via both policy rates and liquidity management, including...

After successive external shocks-first, the pandemic and later higher commodity prices after Russia's invasion of Ukraine-the region's output has surpassed its pre-pandemic level boosted by a strong tourism rebound and investment. Inflation is moderating from its peak. Fiscal and external...

The WAEMU has seen strong growth and rising living standards over the past decade. Economic growth averaged 5.4 percent in 2013-2019 and 5.8 percent in 2021-2023. Policy efforts from regional and national authorities have cushioned the impact of several external and internal shocks, prompting a...

Cohesion policy in the European Union (EU) has been widely accepted as a tool to advance the catch-up process, i.e., helping member countries with lower GDP per capita to grow faster economically in order to arrive at similarly high-income levels as member countries with higher GDP per capita....

Using newly collected discount rate data for six Swiss cities, we find no evidence of increasing integration during a 30-year period of lightly regulated free banking. We attribute this to two structural issues: banks had incentives to protect their local monopolies, and the inherent instability...