Author/Editor: Anoop Singh, Malhar S Nabar, Papa M N'Diaye.

Release Date: November, 2013

China's current account surplus has declined to around one-quarter the peak reached before the global financial crisis. While this is a major reduction in China's external imbalance, it has not been more...

Author/Editor: Alexander Klemm.

Release Date: October, 2013

Current account deficits imply increasing liabilities to the rest of the world. External sustainability then depends on whether these can be met in the future without defaulting, i.e., normally more...

Author/Editor: Christopher Carroll, Martin Sommer, Jiri Slacalek.

Release Date: September, 2012

We argue that the U.S. personal saving rate’s long stability (from the 1960s through the early 1980s), subsequent steady decline (1980s - 2007), and recent substantial increase (2008 - 2011) more...

Author/Editor: Olivier Coibion, Yuriy Gorodnichenko, Lorenz Kueng, John Silvia.

Release Date: August, 2012

We study the effects and historical contribution of monetary policy shocks to consumption and income inequality in the United States since 1980. Contractionary monetary policy actions systematically more...

Author/Editor: Elif Arbatli, Julio Escolano.

Release Date: June, 2012

This paper investigates the effect of fiscal transparency on market assessments of sovereign risk, as measured by credit ratings. It measures this effect through a direct channel (uncertainty more...

Author/Editor: Carlos Caceres, Anna Kochanova.

Release Date: May, 2012

This paper analyzes the linkages between governance quality and country stress events. It focuses on two types of events: fiscal and political stress events, for which two innovative stress more...

Author/Editor: Santanu Chatterjee, Azer Mursagulov.

Release Date: February, 2012

Government spending on infrastructure has recently increased sharply in many emerging-market economies. This paper examines the mechanism through which public infrastructure spending affects the more...

Author/Editor: Andrew Swiston, Luis Barrot.

Release Date: October, 2011

Central America experienced moderate growth during the last decade, including in the years leading up to the global financial crisis, but the rate of convergence toward advanced country income levels more...

Release Date: July, 2011

Release Date: March, 2011

We revive in this paper the empirical relevance of the competitive storage model by taking a holistic approach to food commodity prices. We augment the seminal Deaton and Laroque (1992, 1996) model more...

Author/Editor: Tahsin Saadi Sedik, Serhan Cevik.

Release Date: January, 2011

This paper investigates the causes of extreme fluctuations in commodity prices from 1990 to 2010. Analyzing two very distinct commodities-crude oil and fine wine, we find that macroeconomic factors more...

Author/Editor: Jaewoo Lee, Pau Rabanal, Damiano Sandri.

Release Date: January, 2010

U.S. household consumption declined sharply in late 2008, marking a departure from thetrend of a steady increase in U.S. consumption as a share of income since the 1980s.Combining econometric and more...

Author/Editor: Franziska Ohnsorge, Ashoka Mody.

Release Date: January, 2010

We estimate consumption dynamics in the G-7 economies, paying particular attention to the possibility of precautionary behavior in the face of uncertainty. We find that in the short run, continued more...

Author/Editor: Steven Barnett, Ray Brooks.

Release Date: January, 2010

Consumption in China is unusually low and has continued to decline as a share of GDP over the past decade. A key policy question is how to reverse this trend, and rebalance growth away from reliance more...

Release Date: July, 2007

The Euro Area Policies’ 2007 Article IV Consultation reports that the economy is poised for a sustained upswing because of cyclical considerations and policies, which have had a forward-looking more...

Release Date: April, 2007

The 2007 Article IV Consultation discusses the Republic of Lithuania's economic developments and policy challenges. Lithuania has done well in the past years to improve its investment climate and more...

Release Date: December, 2006

Propelled by large terms-of-trade gains, GDP growth has accelerated and is running close to potential. The demand pressures associated with the large terms-of-trade gains are reflected in a fast real more...

Author/Editor: Ricardo Adrogué, Martin D Cerisola, R G Gelos.

Release Date: December, 2006

This paper assesses Brazil's growth performance from a long-term perspective, using crosscountry and panel estimation techniques, building on the vast empirical literature on growth. The empirical more...

Release Date: November, 2006

France’s economic short-term outlook is positive, and long-term prospects have improved. Fiscal adjustment remains high on the government’s agenda. Tax reforms have improved the more...

Release Date: May, 2006

This paper reviews the Poverty Reduction Strategy Annual Evaluation Report 2005 for Moldova. Economic growth and income redistribution policies promoted in the context of Economic Growth and Poverty more...