This paper presents a model in which economic crises have positive effects on welfare. Periods of very high inflation create the incentive for the resolution of social conflict and thus facilitate the introduction of economic reforms and the achievement of higher levels of welfare. Policies to...

Originally, economics was called political economy, and those studying it readily accepted that economic decisions are made in a political world. But economics eventually separated itself from politics to pursue rigorous methods of analyzing individual behavior and markets. Recently, an...

In this paper we demonstrate that exchange rate regime switching is compatible with optimal government policies. Nominal exchange-rate regimes are formalized as equilibrium commitments on future seigniorage policies, and the collapse of an exchange-rate peg as an excusable default which allows...

A common argument against either a monetary union or a regime or a fixed exchange rates is that they preclude flexible use of the inflation tax. The authors address this point of view by comparing three alternative exchange rate regimes: a pure float, an EMS-regime in which the exchange rate is...

This paper presents a two-country extension of Lucas' (1988) work on the effects of cash-in-advance constraints in asset markets on the pricing of financial assets. The model is one where there exists some degree of separation between the goods markets and the asset markets and money is used for...

This paper investigates the effectiveness of the monetary authority's borrowing policies in resolving exchange rate crises. It shows why obtaining loans or lines of credit in foreign currency may avoid, at least temporarily, the devaluation of a fixed exchange rate, and discusses the problem of...