Financial repression can be used to avoid a government default when fiscal policy is constrained. We present a model showing that optimal financial repression progresses through successive stages with increasing levels of distortion. Data from advanced economies suggest that the initial stage of...

This paper focuses on what countries can do on their own-that is, on the role of domestic policies-with respect to country insurance. Member countries are routinely faced with a range of shocks that can contribute to higher volatility in aggregate output and, in extreme cases, to economic...

The debate on government debt in the context of possible reforms of the international financial architecture has thus far focused on crisis resolution. This paper seeks to broaden this debate. It asks how government debt could be structured to pursue other objectives, including crisis...

Intro -- Contents -- I. INTRODUCTION -- II. DESCRIPTION OF THE DATABASE -- III. DOMESTIC VERSUS INTERNATIONAL DEBT -- IV. THE STRUCTURE OF DOMESTIC DEBT -- V. MONETARY INSTABILITY AND DOMESTIC ORIGINAL SIN -- VI. CONCLUSION -- REFERENCES.