We examine the relation between real interest rate volatility and aggregate fluctuations for a diverse sample of countries. Compiling a new dataset including emerging and advanced countries, the substantial variation in our data yields novel results: (a) stochastic volatility outperforms Markov‐switching in representing interest rates, (b) some advanced economies can be more volatile than emerging markets, and (c) creditors take on more debt following volatility shocks. We show how an equilibrium business cycle model with uncertainty shocks can generate these facts. Sample heterogeneity produces significant parameter differences, playing an important role in distinguishing the effects of volatility shocks.

Theories of international trade have severe difficulties in explaining why, despite i) substantial differences in factor-proportions across industries and ii) considerable cross-country differences in capital-labor ratios, the iii) the evidence for factor-proportions trade is rather weak. We propose a simple explanation of this well known finding: standard trade theories treat important forces such as the distribution of productivity within the economy as exogenous. We argue instead that the productivity allocation is endogenous and counter-balances factor-proportion differentials be- tween countries. Consequently, comparative advantage across countries of different development levels is negligible and this is why the incentives for trade are low.

This paper investigates the effects of public debt and distortionary labour taxation on the long-run behaviour of Irish relative non-traded goods prices. We highlight that higher public debt, acting through higher taxes, has an equivocal impact on the relative supply of non-traded goods and, correspondingly, relative prices. Our empirical analysis for Ireland suggests that taxes and public debt play significant roles in the long run, comoving negatively with the relative price of non-tradables. Accordingly, shifts in public debt and taxation bear implications for the country’s international price competitiveness.