The pre-2008 consensus on what is the most appropriate economic policy melted away. Since then, economists and policymakers have faced new challenges like the zero lower bound, the non-neutrality of financial regulation for the long-term economic performance, and increased uncertainty. This project contributes to the debates about the future economic policies by addressing topics that are beyond the obvious, and from the perspective of economies that are being affected by international spillovers and shocks beyond their control. We will investigate the impact of uncertainty spillovers on economic performance, and the ability of economic policies to mitigate the negative effects of foreign shocks. Then, we estimate the links between uncertainty and financial cycles, to explore to what extent the uncertainty shall be considered as a symptom of fluctuations in financial variables. Finally, we will extend the existing knowledge about the linkages between monetary policy and financial cycles by providing international evidence which is still far from being completed.