One nation under the fed? The asymmetric effects of US monetary policy and its implications for the United States as an optimal currency area

Is the United States best served by a single currency? This question is explored in this paper by looking at the regional effects of US monetary policy shocks through the perspective of the optimal currency area framework. Using monthly state-level data for the period 1983:1-2008:3, this paper finds that some regions of the United States during this time may have benefited from having their own currency. (C) 2009 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.