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We examine the linear and nonlinear long-run relationship between public expenditure and institutional quality, and income inequality in Asia and the Pacific. By applying panel cointegration methods using a dataset from 1988 to 2014, our main findings suggest that public expenditure and institutional quality have negative long-run, steady-state effects on income inequality in Asia and the Pacific. The effect of institutional quality has only a one-way Granger causality link to income inequality. The existence of a nonlinear relationship between public expenditure and institutional factors linked to income inequality is also found. It implies that, at the early stage of institutional development, a country whose economy has experienced higher public expenditure generates rising income inequality; then, in the long run, when the country improves its institutional quality, higher public expenditure results in lower income inequality.

A stubborn myth presents this Act as a conspiracy, allegedly giving the Banque de France solid independence and stymieing any subsequent allegiance to the Government. The State would have been forced to turn to the markets for financing, leading to an increase in the public debt. For the far left, the nationalist right-wing and also for M. Rocard or J Attali, this Act would mark a break in the financial relations between the bank and the government, blocking the possibility to mint money in order to finance public spending and obtain the Bank’s cooperation at zero cost. In reality, article 19 of the Act upholds the possibility for the Government to obtain advances and loans… The Act of 1973 very clearly protects the possibility for the Government to obtain finance from the Banque de France – even at no cost – and keeps it under strict guardianship

Using a new long term database on French foreign trade at a high level of disaggregation the paper deepened France’s international specializations, comparative advantages and exports concentration. At the beginning of the period, France appears to have espoused a Ricardian model of trade, exporting few textiles products in large quantities. The decreasing of the degree of specialization from 1860 to WWI calling into question dynamic Ricardian model expectations about an increasing of French exports concentration. The decline of exports concentration is correlated with chronic deficit of its balance of trade during Belle Epoque. We observe the same phenomena during the major part of interwar particularly after 1927.

This article puts the independence of central banks into historical perspective. In doing so, it underlines the highly versatile nature of the balance of forces between central banks and governments. From this viewpoint, the situation of public finances emerges as a key explanatory factor, and an analysis of the sequence of central banking models is proposed from the late 19th century to the present day. The article upholds the thesis of the emergence, since the subprime crisis, of a new model qualified as “tacit low-degree independence”: central banks have, of their own volition, given up some of their de facto independence, helping governments to contain the rise in national debt. But while keeping a step ahead of pressure from governments, they have lost the control of money supply.

Colloque des 3 et 4 octobre 2002 sous la direction scientifique de Maurice Levy-Leboyer Entre 1870 et la fin du XXe siecle, la France passe progressivement du statut de grande puissance economique, financiere et monetaire a celui de puissance moyenne cherchant son nouveau souffle dans l'Union europeenne. Sur cette periode, quelle a ete la pertinence des choix monetaires de la France au regard de sa performance economique a l'echelle internationale ? Dans quelle mesure ces choix francais ont-ils ete judicieux sur le plan economique par rapport a ceux de nos voisins europeens ? Quelles en ont ete les consequences, pour les divers secteurs industriels et financiers, pour les entreprises francaises, avant et a compter de la reouverture economique de la France a la concurrence internationale ? Les etudes d'historiens et d'economistes de renommee internationale reunies dans le present volume s'articulent autour de trois grandes periodes : la position francaise au debut du XXe siecle ; les crises et le repli francais de la guerre de 1914 aux annees 1950 ; la reouverture aux echanges depuis les annees 1960. Elles mettent en perspective les differentes politiques monetaires conduites par les pouvoirs publics (stabilite du franc, depreciations, franc fort, passage a l'euro...) avec l'evolution des positions commerciales des entreprises francaises. Pour evaluer les resultats economiques de la France, le recours a des comparaisons internationales se montre ici particulierement pertinent, en raison notamment de politiques parfois divergentes incluant l'usage ou non du regime monetaire comme instrument d'ajustement exterieur et interieur. (presentation editeur)