Target Zones with Limited Reserves

   (888 K)

Like a fixed exchange rate, a target zone system may be subject to speculative attacks when the reserves of the central bank are limited. This

paper analyzes such speculative attacks and their implications; it shows that the recently developed "smooth pasting" model of target zones should be viewed as a special case that emerges only when reserves are sufficiently large. The paper then uses the target zone framework to resolve a seeming paradox in predicting speculative attacks on a gold standard, arguing that such a standard may best be viewed as the boundary between one-sided target zones.

This paper is available as PDF (888 K) or via email.

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