Back to the roots: On the origins of the Fed's independence

This note considers the foundations of the Federal Reserve Board's independence. Its origins are shown to reside in the American political philosophy, under which independence is an essential working condition for a perennial democracy.Federal Reserve Board, independence, constitution.

Breaking-up a nation, from the inside

The paper ascribes to the literature analysing the conditions leading to the break-up of nations. The model englobes the existing literature and considers two separate spaces, a state and its region, where informed and non-informed citizens cohabit. We depart in considering that noninformed citizens may be convinced, via the action of groups acting to obtain independence. Conditions for separation are established and discussed. --Political Economy,Separatism,Independence

Intergenerational Transmission of Inflation Aversion: Theory and Evidence

We study the evolution of inflation aversion preferences across generations. In the theoretical part of the paper, we analyze the dynamics of such preferences in an overlapping-generations model with heterogenous mature agents characterized by different degrees of inflation aversion. We show how the stability of a society’s degree of inflation aversion depends on the strength and speed of changes in the structure of the population. The empirical part then proposes two applications in support of the theoretical results. We first link demographic structures to inflation aversion, and then proceed by looking at the relations between income (in)equality and measures of inflation aversion.Intergenerational transmission, evolving preferences, inflation aversion, central bank independence, demographic change, income inequality

Electoral Control when Policies are for Sale

This article analyses the dynamics of electoral promises, building on an electoral competition model with endogenous policies. It extends the Grossman-Helpman (1994) model [Grossman G., Helpman E. [1994], "Protection for sale", American Economic Review, 84, 4, 833-850] to include sanctions from the electorate and lobbies when the incumbent does not satisfy the expected performance she promised to deliver. This framework allows to deal with the intertemporal dimension needed to understand the prevalent cycle of promises, disappointment, new promises, new disappointment ….lobbies, promises, elections, electoral competition, lies

On the Sustainability of a Monetary Union under External Shocks: a Theoretical Result and Its Application to the Gulf Countries

External shocks, be they political or economic, can pose a significant threat to the sustainability of a monetary union. This paper focuses on the openness of a monetary union, and examines how the degrees and characteristics of the sensitivities of its member nations towards external shocks affect the sustainability of the commitment which each of its members made when joining the union. Furthermore, we discuss the sustainability of the prospective monetary union among the Gulf Cooperation Council countries in the light of obtained insights.Monetary Union, Optimum Currency Areas, External Shocks, Gulf Cooperation Council

Monetary Unions and External Shocks

According to Bordo and James (2008), history shows that multinational monetary unions have dissolved mainly under the consequences of external shocks. This paper focuses on the effects of external shocks in assessing the sustainability of a monetary union and provides a theoretical argument that confirms their point.Monetary Union, Optimum Currency Areas, External Shocks

Australian and American tariffs policies: do they rock or tango?

This paper disentangles between two hypotheses on the determinants of Australia's and the US' average tariffs levels. Relying on historical data that covers a century (1904 to 2005), it is first shown that a break in the series occurs in 1947, forcing to separate the data into two sub-periods (before and after the 1947 break). The results permit to distinguish a "rock" and a "tango" regime. The first designates the period where one country (the US) has a stronger influence on the other, while the second indicates that, after 1947, stronger reciprocal inter-relations have to be taken into account.Australia, United States, Trade Policy, Tariffs

Divided boards: Partisanship through delegated monetary policy

While monetary policy decisions are mainly taken by Committees (as is the case for the ECB, or for the Federal Reserve), the literature largely stands on the …ction of a single central banker, be it (or not) a conservative one. The purpose here is to consider explicitly the plural dimension of monetary policy Boards, and to investigate the consequences of such a decision structure for monetary policy rules. --Partisan Theory,Policy Boards,Monetary Union

Monetary Unions and External Shocks

According to Bordo and James [2008, “A long term perspective on the Euro, ” NBER Working Paper, No. 13815], history shows that multinational monetary unions have dissolved mainly under the consequences of external shocks. This paper provides a theoretical model demonstrating their point.Monetary Union, Optimum Currency Areas, External Shocks.

Australian and American tariffs policies: do they rock or tango?

This paper disentangles between two hypotheses on the determinants of Australia's and the US' average tariffs levels. Relying on historical data that covers a century (1904 to 2005), it is first shown that a break in the series occurs in 1947, forcing to separate the data into two sub-periods (before and after the 1947 break). The results permit to distinguish a "rock" and a "tango" regime. The first designates the period where one country (the US) has a stronger influence on the other, while the second indicates that, after 1947, stronger reciprocal inter-relations have to be taken into account.Australia, United States, Trade Policy, Tariffs