The global credit crisis of 2008-09 was the most serious shock to the world economy in 80 years. It was for the world what the Asian crisis of 1997-98 had been for emerging markets: a profoundly alarming wake-up call. By laying bare the fragility of global markets, it raised troubling questions...

Deflation has replaced inflation as the principal challenge for monetary policy in many countries. But influential voices question whether deflation is properly seen as a problem for economic growth and financial stability. They question whether recent experience with deflation is more than a...

This paper reports updated measures of transparency and independence for more than 100 central banks. The indices show that there has been steady movement in the direction of greater transparency and independence over time. In addition, we show that outcomes such as the variability of inflation...

This paper contrasts two views of international currency status: an “old view” in which network increasing returns are sufficiently strong that one currency dominates international markets at any point in time, versus a “new view” in which networks are open and several international...

This paper pursues the comparison of economic integration today and pre 1914 for trade as well as finance, primarily for the United States but also with reference to the wider world. We establish the outlines of international integration a century ago and analyze the institutional and...