Credit to the private sector has risen rapidly in many new Central and Eastern European EU Member States (nMS) in recent years. The lending boom has recently been particularly strong in the segment of loans to households, primarily mortgage-based housing loans, and in those countries that...

This study argues that the key issue for defining and solving the Eurozone’s (EZ) difficulties lies in readjusting the relationship between the centre and the periphery of the EZ. Our argument proceeds in two steps. Firstly, the basic finance problem of a centre-periphery system is captured by...

The Greek bail-out was highly controversial. An oft-heard assessment is that (i) the bail-out was a mistake, (ii) the political haggling over it was irrational. Contrary to this view, our analysis suggests that, given EMU's present political-economic set-up, (i) the bail-out was unavoidable and...

We propose an alternative explanation for the nature, sources and consequences of inflation rate differentials in a monetary union, such as the euro area. We build on the new neoclassical synthesis (NNS) framework, recently advanced by Goodfriend [Goodfriend, M. 2002. Monetary Policy in the New...

What is the link between the financial cycle – financial booms, followed by busts – and the real economy? What is the direction of this link and how salient is this connection? This unique book examines these fundamental questions and offers a paramount contribution to the debate surrounding...

This paper analyses the equilibrium level of private credit to GDP in 11 Central and Eastern European countries in order to see whether the high credit growth recently observed in some of these countries led to above equilibrium private credit-to-GDP levels. We use estimation results obtained...

This article reviews a set of key issues arising in the context of the prospective monetary integration of Central and Eastern European countries into the euro area. It explores economic arguments that relate to the timing of a future euro adoption by new EU Member States. In doing so, the...

What is the link between the financial cycle - financial booms, followed by busts - and the real economy? What is the direction of this link and how salient is this connection? This unique book examines these fundamental questions and offers a paramount contribution to the debate surrounding the...