A model of optimum currency areas is presented using a general equilibrium model with regionally differentiated goods. The choice of a currency union depends upon the size of the underlying disturbances, the correlation between these disturbances, the costs of transactions across currencies,...

This paper analyses the extent to which ASEAN may be suitable for a regional monetary arrangement. On the economic front, we review evidence on patterns of trade, economic shocks, the extent of factor mobility, and the monetary transmission mechanism. We find that ASEAN today is less suitable...

Recent years have seen a wave of empirical studies attempting to give empirical content to the theory of optimum currency areas as a way of marshalling evidence on the costs and benefits of EMU. This paper reviews this empirical literature, as a way of examining the success with which theory has...

This paper examines some popular explanations for the smooth operation of the pre-1914 gold standard. We find that the rapid adjustment of economies to underlying disturbances played an important role in stabilizing output and employment under the gold standard system, but no evidence that this...

We analyse the importance of ERM membership for macroeconomic performance by comparing the behaviour of real output growth and inflation of members and non-members of the ERM. Taking the traditional aggregate supply and demand model as the basis for the analysis, we propose and implement an...

The paper develops the view that the perspective on the HIPC initiative is distorted by the fact that – contrary to the Brady deal itself – it lacks all perspective on the ‘market value’ of the debt which is written down. The appropriate ‘market value’ is one that takes account of...

We compare the resumption of convertibility into gold by the United States in 1879 and the United Kingdom in 1925 to ascertain the degree to which the outcomes reflect differences in strategies adopted by the authorities or in the external environment. It is concluded that external factors were...

Two issues are discussed. The first is which countries might benefit from entry into EMU before the millennium. Germany and her immediate neighbours appear the most likely to gain; our knowledge is too uncertain to say whether all, some, or no countries would reap net economic benefits, however....