dr. C.G.F. (Christiaan) van der Kwaak

My research focuses on the macroeconomic effects of monetary and fiscal policies in Southern Europe during the recent sovereign debt crisis. In this research, I employ state-of-the-art theoretical macroeconomic (DSGE) models. A key ingredient of these models is commercial banks that own large amounts of risky sovereign debt. These models provide policymakers with answers to questions such as whether a financially weak government should provide public funds to support a weak banking sector, how effective fiscal stimuli are in such an environment, and whether recent unconventional monetary policies of the European Central Bank were effective in stimulating economic growth.

Keywords: Macroeconomics, Financial Intermediation, Financial Fragility, Unconventional Monetary Policy, Fiscal Policy