Narrow Results

We argue that a number of recent studies have overstated the economic case for the creation of a common Asian currency by focusing on only a few of the relevant criteria. We also conclude that endogenous forces are unlikely to be sufficiently strong that adopting a common currency would quickly turn Asia into an optimum currency area (OCA) as some have suggested. We argue that more attention needs to be devoted to issues of monetary, fiscal, and exchange rate coordination under a fairly flexible exchange rate system and that OCA analysis is a valuable framework for analyzing such issues.

The purpose of this article is to prove the relative consistency of certain statements about open colorings with 2^ℵ₀ < 2^ℵ₁. In particular both OCA and the statement that every 1–1 function of size ℵ₁ is σ-monotonic are consistent with 2^ℵ₀ < 2^ℵ₁. As a corollary we have that 2^ℵ₀ < 2^ℵ₁ does not admit a ℙ_max variation (in the presence of an inaccessible cardinal).

The main objective of this paper is to test for the possibility of an optimal currency area (OCA) in the six Gulf countries (namely: Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Qatar, Kuwait, Oman, and United Arab Emirates (UAE)). To constitute such an OCA, however, they must satisfy certain preconditions; i.e., they must have similar economic structures with exposure to symmetric shocks, they must be open, well-diversified economies, and they must also ensure a high degree of factor mobility. The objective of this paper is to assess the degree to which the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) meet the requirements of an OCA. Annual and quarterly data are used in our analysis. Using a multivariate threshold autoregression (MVTAR) model and generalized response functions, the main results are that the GCC countries should be divided, as far as the symmetry of the shocks is concerned, into two sub-groups. The first consists of UAE, Oman, and Bahrain and the second consists of Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and Kuwait. Thus, the main implication is that the GCC countries are still far away from an OCA. The success of such a union is conditional on a lot of measures including the removal of domestic and cross-border distortions that are regarded as a hamper to trade and foreign investments, the coordination of national policies that ensure macroeconomic stability, the deepening of regional integration, the development of the nonoil economy, and realization of a large degree of political integration.

This paper aims to investigate whether the East Asian countries — ASEAN5, China, Korea, and Japan — have developed a matching "Optimum Currency Area (OCA) theory" in recent years because the establishment of stable exchange rate linkages and the enhancement of monetary policy credibility are needed for further economic developments in East Asia. In developing the earlier generalized purchasing power parity (G-PPP) model into an up-to-date nonlinear econometric model and considering the adoption of the Asian Monetary Unit (AMU) into this area, this paper could have positive empirical results, which suggest for forming a common currency area in East Asia.

The Proper Forcing Axiom is a powerful extension of the Baire Category Theorem which has proved highly effective in settling mathematical statements which are independent of ZFC. In contrast to the Continuum Hypothesis, it eliminates a large number of the pathological constructions which can be carried out using additional axioms of set theory.