This paper analyses the smoothing of asymmetric shocks to output for a sample of OECD countries. It also examines whether the private capital markets will be able to replace the government in providing output smoothing in the euro-area, in the near future. The research finds no evidence of large...

The Act of Union (1707) unified England and Scotland politically and economically, formally establishing the United Kingdom of Great Britain, and a customs union throughout the island of Britain. In this paper, we examine the impact of union on British market integration using wheat prices from...