Oil Price Shocks and Monetary Policy in an Asymmetric Monetary Union§

This paper analyzes the dynamic effects of anticipated and unanticipated oil price increases in a small two-country monetary union, which is simultaneously characterized by asymmetric wage adjustments and asymmetric interest rate sensitivities of private absorption. It is shown that both types of oil price disturbances lead to temporary divergences in output developments across the monetary union. In the case of anticipated oil price increases the relative cyclical position of output effects is reversed in the course of the adjustment process. With anticipated oil price increases complete stabilization of the output variables throughout the overall adjustment process requires restrictive monetary policy to be time-inconsistent from a quantitative but time-consistent from a qualitative point of view. That means that the central bank credibly announces a future reduction in the growth rate of nominal money stock but actually realizes a decrease in the monetary growth rate, which is less restrictive than the announcement. --EMU,international policy transmission,oil price shock,time inconsistency

Monetary and fiscal policy dynamics in an asymmetric monetary union

This paper investigates the dynamic effects of monetary and fiscal policy in a monetary union, which is characterized by asymmetric interest rate transmission. This asymmetry gives rise to intertemporal reversals in the relative effectiveness of policy on member country outputs. The direction and the number of these reversals depend on whether policies are unanticipated or anticipated. We also study the coordination between monetary and fiscal policy in a monetary union. Monetary policy may completely stabilize European output after unanticipated fiscal policy shocks. With anticipated fiscal policy shocks, complete stabilization throughout the overall adjustment process requires monetary policy to be time-inconsistent. --European Monetary Union,fiscal policy,monetary policy,policy coordination,spillover effects,time inconsistency

Foreign price shocks and monetary policy in an asymmetric monetary union

This paper analyzes the dynamic effects of anticipated and unanticipated foreign price increases of imported raw materials for a small two-country monetary union, which is simultaneously characterized by asymmetric wage adjustments and asymmetric interest rate sensitivities of private absorption. It is shown that both types of input price disturbances lead to temporary divergences in output developments across the monetary union. In the case of anticipated materials price increases the relative cyclical position of output effects is reversed in the course of the adjustment process. With anticipated input price increases complete stabilization of the output variables throughout the overall adjustment process requires restrictive monetary policy to be time-inconsistent from a quantitative but time-consistent from a qualitative point of view. That means that the central bank credibly announces a future reduction in the growth rate of nominal money stock but actually realizes a decrease in the monetary growth rate, which is less restrictive than the announcement. --EMU,international policy transmission,oil price shock,time inconsistency

Monetary and Fiscal Policy Dynamics in an Asymmetric Monetary Union

This paper investigates the dynamic effects of monetary and fiscal policy in a monetary union, which is characterized by asymmetric interest rate transmission. This asymmetry gives rise to intertemporal reversals in the relative effectiveness of policy on member country outputs. The direction and the number of these reversals depend on whether policies are unanticipated or anticipated. We also study the coordination between monetary and fiscal policy in a monetary union. Monetary policy may completely stabilize European output after unanticipated fiscal policy shocks. With anticipated fiscal policy shocks, complete stabilization throughout the overall adjustment process requires monetary policy to be time-inconsistent.European Monetary Union, Fiscal Policy, Monetary Policy, Policy Coordination

Oil Price Shocks and Cyclical Dynamics in an Asymmetric Monetary Union

This paper analyzes the dynamic effects of anticipated and unanticipated oil price increases in a small two-country monetary union, which is simultaneously characterized by asymmetric wage adjustments and asymmetric interest rate sensitivities of private absorption. Common external oil price disturbances lead in this asymmetric macroeconomic setup to temporary divergences in output developments across the monetary union. In the case of anticipated oil price increases the relative cyclical position is reversed in the course of the adjustment process. Complete stabilization of the output variables throughout the overall adjustment process requires a restrictive monetary policy being time inconsistent from a quantitative but time consistent from a qualitative point of view. That means that the central bank credibly announces a future reduction in the growth rate of the nominal money stock but actually implements a reduction, which is less restrictive than the original announcement.EMU; international policy transmission; oil price shock; time inconsistency; monetary policy

Monetary and Fiscal Policy in a Large Asymmetric Monetary Union - A Dynamic Three-Country Analysis

This paper analyzes the dynamic effects of anticipated monetary and fis- cal policies in a large monetary union, which is characterized by asym- metric interest rate transmission. We explicitly solve the asymmetric three-country model using the decomposition methods of Aoki (1981) and Fukuda (1993). Anticipated monetary and fiscal expansions lead to negative international spillovers and to intertemporal reversals in the re- lative effectiveness of policy on member country outputs. Intertemporal international coordination of monetary policies between Euroland and the US is able to stabilize the output adjustment processes induced by an anticipated unilateral fiscal expansion. --Monetary Union,Fiscal Policy,Monetary Policy,Policy Coordination

Proton-neutron symmetry at the limits of collectivity

Two limiting cases of proton-neutron collectivity in nuclear structure are addressed in this work. One of them is the so called limit of weak collectivity, where only a few valence nucleons are present in a nucleus with a well defined core. Such nuclei exhibit single particle degrees of freedom, as well collective ones, which are represented in their level schemes. Low-lying symmetric and mixed-symmetric states probe the proton-neutron structure in medium mass and heavy nuclei. Symmetric means protons and neutrons being in phase, whereas they are not completely in phase in mixed-symmetric states. Such states are also found in another limit of collectivity, the rotational limit, in well-deformed mid-shell nuclei with many valence nucleons. The best known example for a mixed-symmetric state in this case is the scissors mode. A photon scattering experiment was performed on 92Zr, a nucleus with only two valence protons and two valence neutrons with respect to the inert core 88Sr. Nine states have been observed, five of them for the first time and two of them are candidates for the mixed-symmetric two-phonon 1+ state and the quadrupole octupole coupled two-phonon 1- state, respectively. For all the states lifetimes were determined for the first time, and six new spin assignments were made. The primary aim was the determination of the the lifetime of the 2+2 state which was shown to be small in the range of 100 fs. From a comparison of the experimental results with the shell model, including data of subsequent experiments, the 2+1 and 2+2 states are identified as the building blocks of symmetric and mixed-symmetric states, with pronounced neutron and proton character, respectively. Despite the appearance of shell effects and severely broken F-spin, quadrupole collectivity is found to be dominant for both states. The rare earth isotope 164Dy was investigated with a combination of resonant photon scattering experiments using unpolarized continuous bremsstrahlung, as well as polarized photons with well defined energies produced by a free electron laser. These experiments resulted in the observation of 34 states, ten of them new, and their lifetimes. gamma-rays from decays of dipole excited states above 3 MeV to the 2+ band head of the gamma-band were identified. One of the parent states is a main fragment of the scissors mode and the observation of its decay to the 2+gamma state is the first time that such a decay is observed in a rotational nucleus. From the discovery of one of the new states, ambiguities in the level scheme were resolved