It is commonly thought that an open economy can accommodate output shocks through either exchange rate or real sector adjustments. We formalise this notion by incorporating labour market rigidities into an 'escape clause' model of currency crises. We show that the absence of structural reform...

It has been widely accepted that constraints on the wholesale funding of bank balance sheets amplify the transmission of monetary policy through what is called the ‘bank lending channel’. We show that the effect of such bank balance sheet constraints on monetary transmission is in fact...

Crashes in asset markets have been common throughout history, while financial crises, defined as crises in the banking system, have in some countries and periods been as common, and in others much more rare. This article examines historical attitudes to those events, and looks at some of the...

In 1981, 364 economists signed a letter to the London Times, objecting to the Thatcher Government’s anti-inflation policy. This article considers both the policy and the objections. The policy was basically a monetarist one, grounded on the view that inflation could be controlled only by...

It is commonly thought that an open economy can accommodate output shocks through either exchange rate or real sector adjustments. We formalise this notion by incorporating labour market rigidities into an “escape clause” model of currency crises. We show that the absence of structural...

Over the last thirty years, collective rights to organize into unions, bargain collectively and strike have been weakened in both New Zealand and the UK. At the same time, individual rights to due process and to protection from discriminatory or unjust management decisions have been...