We study the properties of the IMF-WEO estimates of real-time output gaps for countries in the euro area as well as the determinants of their revisions over 1994-2017. The analysis shows that staff typically saw economies as operating below their potential. In real time, output gaps tend to have...

In 2021-22, inflation in Europe soared to multidecade highs, consistently exceeding policymakers’ forecasts and surprising with its wide cross-country dispersion. This paper analyzes the key drivers of the inflation surge in Europe and its variation across countries. The analysis highlights...

This paper explores the existence of downward nominal wage rigidity (DNWR) in the industry sectors of 14 European countries, over the period 1973-1999, using a data set of hourly nominal wages at industry level. Based on a novel nonparametric statistical method, which allows for country and...

We argue that most of the existing literature on inflation inequality misses an essential source of disparity by focusing on differences in expenditures while ignoring the effect of a price change on the purchasing power of households' incomes. As a remedy, we propose weighting price changes by...

We study the effects that the Maastricht treaty, the creation of the ECB, and the Euro changeover had on the dynamics of European business cycles using a panel VAR and data from ten European countries - seven from the Euro area and three outside of it. There are slow changes in the features of...

The goal of the paper consists in investigating if comovements in some selected time series are common to various countries and periods of time. To do so, we use 18 economic time series (GDP and demand components, employment and wages, money and prices, interest rates and stock prices) between...

We use a New Keynesian DSGE model with search frictions on the housing market to evaluate how financing a labor tax reduction by higher property taxation affects the real economy and welfare. Search on the housing market enables us to explicitly model stocks and flows, which is necessary to...

In the absence of more timely or accurate information, survey indicators of economic activity are closely watched by financial markets and policymakers alike. These include the Purchasing Managers' Indices (PMIs), which are widely regarded as important indicators of economic activity. PMIs are...

This paper explores the existence of downward nominal wage rigidity (DNWR) in the industry sectors of 14 European countries, over the period 1973–1999, using a data set of hourly nominal wages at industry level. Based on a novel nonparametric statistical method, which allows for country and...