This paper examines the behaviour of the real Australian dollar exchange rates against the US dollar and Japanese yen over the last two decades. It is argued that country differences in relative productivity growth in the traded goods sectors can help explain movements in the real rates. Using...

Increases in corporate debt in a variety of countries over the past decade have renewed interest in the relationship between leverage and the macro-economy. In general, the theoretical work on these links has outpaced the empirical research. This paper is an initial attempt to examine changes in...

Models of international trade based on desire for variety, increasing returns and monopolistic competition predict that the more similar are nations’ resource endowments the more important should be intra-industry trade. This prediction is tested using resource data for 22 OECD nations over...

Financial deregulation in the 1980s saw the lifting of regulations on interest rates charged by banks. In general, lending rates now respond more quickly to changes in banks’ cost of funds than they did in the regulated period. However, lending rates still do not always move one for one with...

This paper examines, both theoretically and empirically, the relationship between the slope of the yield curve and future changes in real activity and inflation. It argues that the existence of sticky prices allows current and expected future monetary shocks to affect the slope of both the...</em>

The 2000s was a particularly eventful decade for both the international and Australian economies. There were: two recessions in many countries; the largest international financial crisis since the Great Depression; the ongoing rapid development of Asia; asset booms and busts; and, Australia...