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Chapter 1.—This chapter addresses model specification uncertainty using the Bayesian Generalized Method of Moments (GMM). Employing Canadian data, I estimate 64 hybrid New Keynesian models which differ in their lag specification, and use a modified GMM quadratic function to produce model posteriors. I compute optimal discretionary policies for each model and then derive a posterior-weighted policy and loss. My results show that i) policy should respond more to the output gap than inflation, ii) a more aggressive policy is prescribed for the period of stagflation in the 1970s and early 1980s and iii) a relatively light-touch policy is recommended during the Great Moderation, and produces better outcomes. This last result supports the hypothesis of ‘good luck’ over ‘good policy’. Chapter 2.—In this chapter I develop an inverse control procedure to recover the under- lying preferences of a monetary authority engaged in discretionary policymaking. I adjoin the first-order condition (FOC) of the optimal interest rate rule-setting derived under discretion to the usual least squares moment conditions during the GMM procedure. Using Monte Carlo simulations, I show that the preferences on output gap stabilization and interest rate smoothing may be recovered. Robustness reveals that recovering the preference on the output gap is dependent upon policy actions having sufficient effect on the macroeconomy. Further testing indicates that the procedure functions for alternative starting values, may be adapted to different lag specifications of the underlying model, and is able to recover different sets of policy preferences. Chapter 3.—This chapter tests the hypothesis that the monetary authorities of Canada, the United States and the United Kingdom have exhibited similar preferences over stabilizing the output gap and smoothing the interest rate, by way of an inverse control algorithm (FOC- based GMM) for a discretionary policymaker. For the sample period covering 1968:1-2006:4, the FOC-based provides comparable structural estimates to a benchmark specification using an instrument-based GMM. The data suggest no role for output stabilization in any country, but a large and significant concern for interest rate smoothing is observed in Canada. Measures of fit reject optimality in the United States for baseline specification sample, but do not preclude it in any country when sample periods are restricted to the current man- dates. Policymakers’ reaction functions are shown to be sensitive to the underlying policy preferences, though decreasingly so at high levels of interest rate smoothing. Robustness is seen with respect to starting values and fixed policy coefficients.

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This thesis concerns banking and financial systems in the United States of America during the time of the Great Depression. In the first stage, I will focus on the Federal Reserve System's monetary policy and its expansive character. Then I will emphasize on the events taking place in American banking system during the 20's, the linkage between these events and the great contradiction of American economy, which took place at the end of the decade. The key part of my thesis will be devoted to the analysis of the most important state interventions, which were supposed to save the banking and financial system from collapsing between 1930 -- 1933, and make the economy prosperous again. I will devote to the steps taken by Hervert Hoover; the president between years 1929 -- 1933, as well as the steps from the first year of F. D. Roosevelt's presidency. F. D. Roosevelt's era started in March 1933, and it was the time when the American banking system found itself in the most critical situation ever. During this era, the crucial measures were taken, and I will examine the hypothesis in which there were close connections between the political and the big business representatives standing behind their enactment. I will attempt to demonstrate that the officially proclaimed goals of those measures were unlike the real content, and the consequences of the new legislatives being enacted during these times.

Legal status and content of activities of Czech national bank This thesis deals with legal issues of Czech National Bank. The aim of this work is the analysis of the basic institutes, the most important and the most controversial statutory provisions and also to introduce the most important activities of the central bank to the reader and explaining him why are these activities needed and what is their function in the system. Due to limited range of this thesis the author took considerable volume of this topic in account, that's why some chapters aim merely the most important information to explain the issue correctly and to help the reader to understand the contexts. This work is divided to seven chapters (including the Inroduction) and to the Conclusion, list of used shortuts, literature and attachments. In the Introduction the author acquaints the reader with reason, why has he choosen right this issue as the topic of his thesis and lays out the targets to be accomplished by his work. In the second chapter is the reader acquainted with the historical development of central banking on the territory of present Czech Republic - since the Austro-Hungarian monarchy to the evolution of current Czech National Bank. In the conclusion of this chapter the author analysis the possibilities of the immediate future...

The Central Bank, its Legal Status and Scope of Activities Central banks are very powerful institution and central banking is a very complex discipline. Monetary policy, the most important activity of central banking, has become the key instrument of macroeconomic stabilisation. The aim of my paper has been to analyse all the areas of central banks' operations, aiming especially at monetary policy and its instruments, and also to tackle the recently emerged doubts about what the main objective of central banks should be. I also provide a review and an analysis of the current legal status of the Czech National Bank from the independence and accountability point of view. The first chapter of my work is dedicated to the history of central banking. Second chapter examines the individual functions that central banks carry out, with third chapter analysing the most important of them, the monetary policy. The last chapter is dedicated to the Czech National Bank (CNB) and is subdivided into four parts: the first one is outlining the history of CNB, the second one gives us the detailed overview of the individual functions of CNB, its main target and instruments CNB uses to reach the target. The third one is devoted to CNB relations with European Union and the fourth part focuses on the legal status of CNB...

This thesis examines the central banking transparency and financial stability communication. The main goal is to find the determinants of the updated Monetary policy transparency index and the index for financial stability trans- parency, which cover 110 countries during the period 2000-2011. We analyse the individual components of transparencies and perform regression models with the set of economic and political variables in order to find drivers of all aspects of transparency. As a basic observation we verified the increasing trend in both types of transparencies during last two decades. We found out that economi- cally well developed countries with flexible exchange rates, quality government and stable political institutions tend to be more open about their monetary policies. Moreover, high degree of monetary policy transparency and the occu- rance of past systemic banking crisis implies higher openness of central banks about financial stability issues. The drivers of Financial stability transparency index components display significant variations, especially variables like rule of law or past financial distress. It is concluded that financial stability trans- parency is still a young field of study and many central banks are still in the developing phase of learning. Keywords central banking,...

This work aims to bring readers the relatively in the Czech Republic unknown issue of central banking in France. During the 210 years-long history of operation of the Banque de France has been quite a substantial development of its legal status and monetary policy, which the author tries to show. As part of this development is also described the participation of France and its central bank in the international monetary integration, in which helping shape this country very much involved. In addition, this work deals with the circumstances and ways of creating a modern French monetary policy making, and being represented by the Banque de France as part of national economic policy as part of a supranational European System of Central Banks. The work complements the analysis of the current state of the French economy from the perspective of the Banque de France.

The main thesis of this paper is to identify and describe the common and different aspects of the monetary policies of Austria and Czechoslovakia in the years 1918-1929, as one of the possible determinants of post-war economic development of both countries. As the successor states to the Austro-Hungarian monarchy both countries faced the same currency problems, although Czechoslovakia was on the winning side and Austria on the losing side, which determined the economic conditions in both countries in their beginnings. To address monetary issues each country had a different approach, while for example Austria experienced post-war hyperinflation Czechoslovakia executed the first wave of deflation. Despite the successes of the Czechoslovak economy in the period under review, only by comparing them to Austria showed that against all odds the economic performance of Austria was better. One of the possible causes was a different implementation of monetary policy, which is the central theme of this paper. Although the two countries are once again "reunited" in the European Union, their mutual relations are still impeded by specific problems whose origins can also be traced to the interwar period.

This paper reviews theoretical and empirical evidence of asset price movements impact on the real economic activity. A key channel is the wealth effect on consumption. Fluctuations in stock prices and housing prices influence the households wealth and could have important impacts on households consumption. In addition, stock prices may affect corporate sector investments and property prices may affect building activity. Here, the method of cointegration is used to estimate the wealth effect and the investment effect in aggregate time series for Germany after the Reunification in 1990. Moreover, we discuss the role of asset prices in the monetary policy strategy of the ECB.