International Economics Commons^™

Relative Inflation-Forecast As Monetary Policy Target For Convergence To The Euro, Lucjan T. Orlowski

WCBT Faculty Publications

A monetary policy framework based on targeting a relative inflation-forecast is proposed for the economies converging to the euro. Such strategy aims at containing the differentials between the domestic and the implicit monetary union inflation-forecasts. Hence, these differentials become a basis for setting an operational policy target. The proposed framework can be viewed as an extension of flexible inflation targeting that prioritizes low and stable inflation over the exchange rate stability. It is believed to be consistent with the Maastricht convergence criteria and can be implemented in concurrence with the exchange rate stability benchmark for the ERM2. Several empirical tests …

Stages Of The Ongoing Global Financial Crisis: Is There A Wandering Asset Bubble?, Lucjan Orlowski

WCBT Faculty Publications

This study argues that the severity of the current global financial crisis is strongly influenced by changeable allocations of the global savings. This process is named a “wandering asset bubble”. Since its original outbreak induced by the demise of the subprime mortgage market and the mortgage-backed securities in the U.S., this crisis has reverberated across other credit areas, structured financial products and global financial institutions. Four distinctive stages of the crisis are identified: the meltdown of the subprime mortgage market, spillovers into broader credit market, the liquidity crisis epitomized by the fallout of Bear Sterns with some contagion effects on …

Assessing Competition Policy Performance Metrics: Concerns About Cross-Country Generalisability, Lesley Denardis, A. E. Rodriguez

Political Science & Global Affairs Faculty Publications

Recent interest in competition policy performance has typically relied on subjective performance metrics that have undergone little direct scrutiny by users. We examine the quality of the popular World Economic Forum's antitrust performance metric and assess whether it is immune from perception-bias. A bias-free metric is required to ensure cross-country consistency in its intended performance assessment.

We note various instances where the WEF's competition policy performance survey was completed but where there existed neither competition legislation nor an associated enforcement agency at the time. This seeming inconsistency is neither amenable to traditional econometric heterogeneity treatment nor instrumentable; importantly, it is …

Institutional Issues Impeding Progress Of The Free Trade Area Of The Americas Agreement (Ftaa), Sivakumar Venkataramany, Balbir B. Bhasin

WCBT Faculty Publications

For any bilateral or multilateral trade agreement to be effective, it is imperative that all participants derive maximum benefit. This paper examines the institutional issues facing the partners of the Free Trade of the Area of the Americas (FTAA), analyzes some of the current areas of conflict and suggests action to reduce tensions and promote harmony, cooperation and accommodation which is a necessity when multiple countries attempt to foster such an agreement.