The EU15 countriesu0092 real GDP per capita levels adjusted for purchasing power converged in 1960u00962001. Convergence occurred in two spells, in 1960u009673 and 1986u00962001, with an interim period of stagnation. In this paper, we analyse both s and b convergence and discuss the impact of EU...

The study suggests that the EU's eastward enlargement will be beneficial to the new members, while most EU countries will record minor welfare gains. Poland is expected to gain 3.4% of GDP, and Hungary almost 7%. The new members will experience production increases across almost all sectors,...

Assessing existing policies or developing new policy options requires indicators showing where a community stands, where it is going and how far it is from where it wants to be. Indicators are necessary in all steps of the policy cycle: to describe the current situation/problem; to analyse the...

After the switch to a floating exchange rate in 1973, the Swiss National Bank at first adopted annual monetary targets and in the 1990s shifted to a medium-term targeting strategy. In this paper I review the SNBu0092s internal policy analysis, an aspect of Swiss monetary targeting that has...