We study what makes government bonds a safe asset. Building on a sample of monthly changes in government bond yields in 40 advanced and emerging countries, we analyse the sensitivity of yields to country specific fundamentals interacted with changes in global risk (VIX). We find that inertia...

We study the role and the interaction of the quality of institutions and of counter-cyclical policies in leaning against the Global Financial Cycle (GFC) in Emerging Economies (EMEs). We show that heteroegeneity in institutional strength is a key determinant of the different effects of the GFC...

A remarkable development seen in recent years is the pronounced decline in euro area M1 velocity a moderate decline in short-term interest rates, which represent the most natural opportunity cost for M1, suggesting an increase in the interest rate elasticity of M1 demand. In fact, estimating a...