Forward-looking behavior on the part of the monetary authority leads least squares estimates to understate the true growth consequences of monetary policy interventions. We present instrumental variables estimates of the impact of interest rates on real output growth for several European...

Market reaction to a change in official interest rates will depend on the extent to which the change is anticipated, and on how it is interpreted as a signal of future policy. In this paper, a technique is developed to separate the anticipated and unanticipated components of such changes and is...

Fiscal policy has a strong foundation in the multiyear program of spending cuts, tax reforms, and deficit reduction in Germany. Germany's focus on actual, rather than cyclically adjusted, fiscal goals and outcomes carries the risk of rendering fiscal policy procyclical. The recent business and...

This cross-country paper explains differences in external sector performance among four large euro area countries—France, Germany, Italy, and Spain. The paper discusses that during 2001–04, the performance of the external sector differed markedly among these four largest euro area countries....

This 2012 Article IV Consultation reports that the German economy’s performance has been remarkable despite facing considerable headwinds. Several conditions are now in place in Germany for a domestic demand-led recovery. Employment creation has been robust and unemployment at 5.3 percent is...

This paper examines external adjustment in the U.S., Japan and Germany from the perspective of net foreign asset positions. It asks two questions: What are, in the long run, the determinants of net foreign asset equilibrium? and: What are, in the short run, the adjustment mechanisms sustaining...

This paper examines and compares the instruments and procedures currently employed by the central banks of France, Germany, Japan, the United Kingdom, and the United States for implementing monetary policy in the short run. The analysis indicates that the monetary authorities of these five...

This 1999 Article IV Consultation highlights that the monetary conditions in Germany have eased significantly since late 1998, reflecting both policy actions and exchange rate developments. Short-term interest rates were reduced by the Bundesbank to 3 percent in December 1998 and, in the new...

This chapter reviews recent economic developments and economic prospects in which the emergence of the principal imbalances is traced, and their persistent character highlighted in the Federal Republic of Germany. On macroeconomic policies, while one might quibble about the rate of expansion of...