We model a typical Asian-crisis-economy using dynamic general equilibrium tech-niques. Exchange rates obtain from nontrivial fiat-currencies demands. Sudden stops/bank-panics are possible, and key for evaluating the merits of alternative ex-change rate regimes. Strategic complementarities...

The Euro Zone (EZ)’s economies are under great stress since last decade’s financial crisis. Diverging interest rates, high debt burdens and sluggish growth in several member countries led to various rescue activities. Nevertheless, financial markets have still not calmed and the break-up of...

The nature of monetary arrangements is often discussed without any reference to its detailed construction. We present a graph representation that allows for a clear understanding of modern monetary systems. First, we show that systems based on commodity money are incompatible with credit. We...

This paper analyses the issue of the dynamics of the TARGET2 system balances during the sovereign debt crisis. The development of these balances reflects the change in the distribution of the monetary base among the EMU Member States. During the sovereign debt crisis, while some countries, among...

The existence of large federal budget deficits in the U.S., especially in recent years, raises the specter of concern regarding their potential effects on real interest rates (as well as economic growth and capital formation). This study provides current and new empirical evidence on the impact...

A graph representation of the financial relations in a given monetary structure is proposed. It is argued that the graph of debt-liability relations is naturally organized and simplified into a tree structure, around banks and a central bank. Indeed, this optimal graph allows to perform payments...

Loans to Italy from other eurozone countries will not increase their risk exposure, irrespective of the method of financing. This is because loans will displace an equal amount of Italy’s Target2 debt, leaving unchanged the total claim of the eurozone creditors. Italy currently has Target2...

Speaking before the IDB Board of Directors, Carmen Reinhart discussed the syndrome of “debt intolerance,” whereby countries with weak institutional structures and problematic political systems borrow in order to avoid difficult fiscal decisions but subsequently find themselves unwilling or...

Lucas (1990) argued that it was a paradox that more capital does not flow from rich countries to poor countries. He rejected the standard explanation of expropriation risk and argued that paucity of capital flows to poor countries must instead be rooted in externalities in human capital...

This article uses the push-pull factors approach to analyze the determinants of private capital flows (foreign direct investments, portfolio investments, and debt) in West African Economic and Monetary Union (WAEMU) over the period 1970-2003. The results show that (i) infrastructure, trade...