This book provides an in-depth description and analysis of monetary policy in Europe and the United States. Unusually for a volume in the field, it focuses on actual monetary policy - targets, institutions, strategies, and instruments - but traditional and contemporary theoretical approaches to...

This paper discusses how the choice of central banks'' operating targets influences the use of their monetary policy instruments and how the latter affect the central bank''s balance sheet. This is of particular interest, since the monetary conditionality in IMF-supported programs has...

What role can better quality of public finances play in supporting Europe's long-term economic growth prospects? This question was at the centre of the 2008 European Commission workshop on public finances. It was largely motivated by the pressures put on European economies and their budgets from...

Improving the quality of public finances (QPF) has become a new focus for European policy makers. This focus is largely a response to preparing the European economies for the dual challenge of ageing populations and increased exposure to global competition. Better QPF can help tackle both...