In this paper policy issues related to the operation of monetary policy in a low inflation environment are discussed. The successful reduction of inflation rates in a number of OECD countries in recent years arguably represents a regime shift that is likely to affect the operation of monetary...

We address the importance of external versus domestic conditions in determining emerging market bond (EMBI) spreads. Using principal components, we derive a measure of global risk aversion, which is shown to have a significant and, when interacted with a country's foreign debt to GNI ratio,...

In this paper, the authors analyse the role of asset market prices in the formation of monetary policy with particular reference to equity markets, a concern for policy makers in the late 1990s. While asset prices have potentially valuable supplementary information for monetary policy makers,...

For a long time European Economic and Monetary Union was mainly considered an internal European issue and external consequences were largely ignored. In contrast to most previous analyses, this paper looks at a number of international implications of monetary union. It is argued that several...

The 2010 update of the FDI Restrictiveness Index (FDI Index) expands the sectors covered and revises the way in which FDI measures are scored and weighted. The FDI Index is now available for all OECD Members, adherents to the Declaration on International Investment and Multinational Enterprises,...

Compte tenu des disparités actuelles de taux de croissance relatifs et de soldes des paiements courants entre économies de l’OCDE, l’incidence des réformes structurelles sur les déséquilibres extérieurs est un thème qui suscite beaucoup d’intérêt. Les responsables de la politique...

The impact of structural reforms on external imbalances has attracted considerable attention in view of the existing constellation of relative growth rates and current account balances among OECD economies. Not least among policy makers, what should and can be done to help solve the problem has...

The health of a firm’s balance sheet potentially plays a role in its decisions to invest and through that channel, aggregate activity can be affected. Several authors have established a theoretical link based on the notion that the value of equity can be collateralised for business loans used...