Office of Strategic Services vs. Special Operations Executive: Competition for the Italian Resistance, 1943-1945

This article explores the relationship between the British Special Operations Executive (SOE) and the U.S. Office of Strategic Services (OSS) in the Italian campaign during World War II. Drawing on recently declassified records, the article analyzes three issues that prevented satisfactory coordination between the two agencies and the impact those issues had on the effectiveness of the Allied military support given to the partisan movements: (1) the U.S. government's determination to maintain the independence of its agencies; (2) the inability of the Armed Forces Headquarters to impose its will on the reluctant subordinate levels of command; and (3) the relatively low priority given to the Italian resistance at the beginning of the campaign. The article contributes to recent studies on OSS and SOE liaisons and sheds additional light on an important turning point in the history of their relations. Drawing on recently declassified records, this article explores the relationship between the British Special Operations Executive (SOE) and the U.S. Office of Strategic Services (OSS)—the wartime intelligence agencies responsible for espionage, subversion, and other covert activities—in the Italian campaign during World War II. Until recently, the extensive Anglo-American literature on OSS-SOE relations focused mainly on the two agencies’ wartime activities in the Balkans and France. The Italian theater received relatively little attention. The reasons for this lack of attention are straightforward. First, the Italian campaign has usually been regarded as a “sideshow” in the history of the war. Second, OSS and SOE policies in Italy had fewer dramatic results than in Yugoslavia and Greece and thus rarely have drawn the attention of historians. Usually written under the shadow of the Cold War confrontation, the few studies that have tangentially dealt with this topic have tended to downplay the U.S.-British competition and have focused instead on defending the two agencies from the accusation that their policies toward the resistance were politically driven. Conversely, general histories of the Italian resistance movement, mostly by Italian scholars, have tended to emphasize a strong difference between a supposedly progressive U.S. policy and a conservative British outlook. These studies, however, have failed to assess how the two spy agencies’ relationship affected the actual support given to the partisans. This article shows that OSS and SOE operations in Italy went well beyond regional interests. A survey of these operations not only presents a noteworthy case study of the difficulties of wartime cooperation, but also sheds light on a key turning point in relations between the two agencies. Italy was the venue in which the OSS was finally able to overcome its dependence on SOE and establish itself as an independent agency. Although SOE maintained its supremacy in the Balkans and OSS agreed to a good level of integration with its British counterpart in France, the situation was very different in Italy, where the OSS not only imposed the complete separation of the two agencies but also, by the end of the campaign, overtook the British in the number of missions and supplies sent to the partisan groups in the field. This reversal of the two agencies’ roles was a significant indicator of the “changing of the guard” in the clandestine world and had important implications for the effectiveness of the support given to the resistance movements as well as on the global activities of the OSS and SOE.This is the final version of the article. It first appeared from MIT Press via http://dx.doi.org/10.1162/JCWS_a_0059

Monetary policy and the risk-taking channel

Before the 2007 crisis, the trade-off between output and inflation played a leading role in the discussion of monetary policy. Instead, issues relating to financial stability played a less pronounced role in shaping the stance of monetary policy and were limited to asset price dynamics. This Roundup argues that the great interest that emerged after the 2007 crisis in the effects of monetary policy on financial stability reflects the shift in attention from asset price dynamics to risk-taking incentives of financial intermediaries. The Roundup reviews the economic literature that contributed to this shift in the interpretation of the main trade-offs faced by central banks in setting interest rates

Office of strategic services versus special operations executive: Competition for the Italian resistance, 1943–1945

This article explores the relationship between the British Special Operations Executive (SOE) and the U.S. Office of Strategic Services (OSS) in the Italian campaign during World War II. Drawing on recently declassified records, the article analyzes three issues that prevented satisfactory coordination between the two agencies and the impact those issues had on the effectiveness of the Allied military support given to the partisan movements: (1) the U.S. government's determination to maintain the independence of its agencies; (2) the inability of the Armed Forces Headquarters to impose its will on the reluctant subordinate levels of command; and (3) the relatively low priority given to the Italian resistance at the beginning of the campaign. The article contributes to recent studies on OSS and SOE liaisons and sheds additional light on an important turning point in the history of their relations. This is the final version of the article. It first appeared from MIT Press via http://dx.doi.org/10.1162/JCWS_a_0059

Economic effects of uncertainty

This Roundup discusses the literature on the effects of uncertainty on economic activity. Uncertainty will be generally referred to as the agents' inability to form clear expectations about the future path of relevant economic variables. After motivating the analysis from a policy perspective, the Roundup outlines the key channels through which uncertainty exerts an impact on the economy. It then discusses in an intuitive manner the challenges in empirically estimating such effect, and the recent developments in the literature

Unconventional monetary policy, fiscal side effects and euro area (im)balances

We study the macroeconomic effects of unconventional monetary policy in the euro area using structural vector autoregressions, identified with external instruments. The instruments are based on the common unexpected variation in euro area sovereign yields for different maturities on policy announcement days. We first show that expansionary monetary surprises are effective at lowering public and private interest rates and increasing economic activity, consumer prices, and inflation expectations. We then document that the shocks lead to a rise in primary public expenditures and a widening of internal trade balances

World Health Organization guidelines, the COVID-19 pandemic, and transnational law

The reflections within this paper discuss the importance of transnational law, following the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. In addition, considerations are made about the transnational law produced by the World Health Organisation (“WHO”) against COVID-19. Also, an analysis will be made of the central categories and their relationship with the prefix “trans” and transnational law. Subsequently, the WHO as an entity is discussed along with its emergence and performance in the elaboration of a transnational legal framework, which is to be considered when internalising its guidelines by each Member State. In the context of final considerations, it is emphasised that, in addition to the importance that should be attributed to transnational law, the work of WHO, as a transnational actor, practices materialised acts such as transnational law, both in terms of guidance and in connection with public health matters. The methodology used was based on the inductive method, using the bibliographic research

THE WORLD HEALTH ORGANIZATION: THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC AND TRANSNATIONAL LAW

The reflections made in this writing, bring to discussion the importance of transnational law, in the face of the occurrence of the current pandemic. From this, considerations are made about the transnational law produced by the WHO against Covid-19. Also, an analysis is made of the central categories and their relationship with the prefix ‘trans-’ and transnational law. Subsequently, the WHO is discussed, its emergence and performance in the elaboration of a transnational legal framework to be considered when internalizing its guidelines by each Member State. In the context of final considerations, it is emphasized, in addition to the importance that should be attributed to transnational law that the work of the WHO, as a transnational actor, practices materialized acts such as transnational law, both in terms of guidance and in connection with public health matters. The methodology used was based on the inductive method, using the bibliographic research

Unconventional monetary policy, fiscal side effects and euro area (im)balances

We study the macroeconomic effects of unconventional monetary policy in the euro area using structural vector autoregressions, identified with an external instrument. The instrument is the common unexpected variation in euro area sovereign spreads for different maturities on policy announcement days. We first show that expansionary monetary surprises are effective at lowering public and private interest rates and increasing economic activity, consumer prices, and inflation expectations. We also find, however, that the shocks lead to a rise in primary public expenditures, a divergence of consumer prices within the union, and a widening of internal trade balances

Unsicherheitsschock durch Brexit-Votum verringert Investitionstätigkeit und Bruttoinlandsprodukt im Euroraum und Deutschland

Die Entscheidung für einen Brexit hat die Konjunkturängste innerhalb und außerhalb Europas verstärkt. Die Auswirkungen der mit dieser Entscheidung verbundenen ökonomischen Unsicherheit auf den Euroraum und die deutsche Wirtschaft lassen sich mit ökonometrischen Methoden abschätzen. Einer kontrafaktischen Analyse zufolge wird der exogene Anstieg der Unsicherheit das Bruttoinlandsprodukt in der Modellökonomie für den Euroraum für über zwei Jahre reduzieren und dabei einen Rückgang um etwa 0,2 Prozent nach acht Monaten bewirken. Die Arbeitslosenquote wird deshalb vermutlich steigen und Verbraucherpreise sinken. Die Investitionstätigkeit wird schätzungsweise innerhalb eines Jahres um etwa 0,7 Prozent sinken. In Deutschland kommt es qualitativ und quantitativ zu vergleichbaren Auswirkungen. Diese Ergebnisse zeigen, wie wichtig es ist, die Investitionstätigkeit im Euroraum und in Deutschland anzukurbeln und die Unsicherheit im weiteren politischen Prozess zu minimieren.The Brexit vote has considerably increased economic uncertainty in Europe and beyond. It will likely affect economic performance and in particular investment in the euro area, which are both already relatively weak. The impact of this uncertainty shock on the euro area and the German economy is estimated with an econometric framework. A counterfactual analysis indicates that the uncertainty associated with the Brexit vote reduces GDP in the model economy for the euro area for more than twoyears, with a trough of about 0.2 percent after eight months, relative to a situation in which this shock would not have occurred. It also leads to an increase in the unemployment rate and to a mild decline of consumer prices. Investment is estimated to fall by approximately 0.7 percent over the horizon of one year. In Germany, theseeffects are qualitatively and quantitatively similar. The findings highlight the importance to stimulate investment in the euro area and in Germany, and to minimize uncertainty in the further political process