INTRODUCTION TO THE SPECIAL ISSUE ON GROWTH, OPTIMAL FISCAL AND MONETARY POLICY, AND FINANCIAL FRICTIONS

Abstract

Since 1997, the Department of Economics of the University of Crete has organized an annual international conference on macroeconomic analysis and international finance. The articles included in this special issue are refereed versions of papers presented at the 17th International Conference on Macroeconomic Analysis and International Finance held at the University Campus, Rethymno, 30 May–1 June 2013, and submitted to Macroeconomic Dynamics in an open call for papers. The central theme of this Special Issue is Growth, Optimal Fiscal and Monetary Policy, and Financial Frictions. The topics discussed in this issue are endogenous growth and public investment and taxation; optimal inflation and fiscal and monetary policy; foreign reserve accumulation and China's exchange rate policy; and liquidity shocks and financial frictions. We begin the Special Issue with an overview of these papers.