According to the conventional wisdom, "peripheral" Southern European countries members of the euro area (Greece, Italy, Portugal, and Spain) suffer from a problem of competitiveness. Since devaluation is not possible because they are part of the euro, the adjustment should come through...

According to conventional wisdom, “peripheral” Southern European members of the euro area (Greece, Italy, Portugal and Spain) suffer from a problem of competitiveness. Since their membership of the euro area renders devaluation impossible, adjustment should come through decreasing wages and...

In this paper, we provide a test of the sustainability of external imbalances in the OECD countries, over the years 1970-2007. Specifically, we deal with the case of those countries that have experienced current account deficits in more than half of the years throughout the period of analysis,...

In this paper, we provide a test of the sustainability of external imbalances in the OECD countries, over the years 1970-2007. Specifically, we deal with the case of those countries that have experienced current account deficits in more than half of the years throughout the period of analysis,...