What I learnt about growth policy at the World Bank
Brian Pinto. Since the Global Crisis, concerns have grown that advanced economies are suffering from secular stagnation. This column discusses the lessons that can be learnt from the economic transition of central and eastern Europe and the emerging-market crises of the late 1990s and early 2000s. Structural reform is particularly costly in the context of […]
Global imbalances: Whither now?
Aqib Aslam, Samya Beidas-Strom, Marco E Terrones, Juan Yépez. Global current-account imbalances narrowed substantially over the past eight years. As a result, the systemic risks associated with these imbalances have decreased. This column argues that despite this narrowing, the net creditor and debtor positions diverged further. Some large debtor economies remain exposed to changes in […]
The ECB as lender of last resort?
Charles A.E. Goodhart, Dirk Schoenmaker As part of the move to a banking union, the largest banks in the Eurozone will soon be supervised by the ECB. This column argues that supervision and the lender of last resort function should be seen as a joint product. After the introduction of the euro, the national central […]
It takes more than two to tango: Cry, but not for Argentina, nor for the holdouts
Frankel, Jeffrey. The US court ruling forcing Argentina to pay its hold-out creditors has big implications. This column argues that some of them are particularly worrying. The court ruling undermines the possibility of negotiated re-structuring of unsustainable debt burdens in future crises. In the future, it will not be not enough for the debtor and […]
Enhancing the transparency of the Bank of England’s Inflation Report
Jack McKeown, Lea Paterson. The Bank of England has introduced a series of changes aimed at enhancing the transparency of its flagship communication vehicle for monetary policy – the Inflation Report. This column by two BoE economists sets the rationale for these changes in the context of the economic literature. Πηγή: Voxeu πλήρες κείμενο
Economic policies pursuant to the Global Crisis: A critique
Wood, Richard. The Global Crisis triggered a series of medium-term policy changes. This column reviews the effectiveness of some of these monetary, fiscal policies, and internal devaluation policies. Policymakers anchored their strategic thinking in paradigms that became inapplicable to the new problems. An alternative set of macroeconomic policies is suggested. Πηγή: Voxeu πλήρες κείμενο
Lacklustre investment in the Eurozone: Is there a puzzle?
Buti, Marco, Mohl, Philipp. Investment in the Eurozone is forecast to remain below trend until 2015, with a particularly large shortfall in the periphery. Low investment reduces aggregate demand, thus lowering short-term growth, and it also hampers medium-term growth through its effect on the capital stock. This column highlights three causes of low Eurozone investment […]
Νίκος Κουτσιαράς: Μακροοικονομική θεωρία και πολιτική (επιστήμη)
Η εξηγητική ισχύς και προγνωστική δυνατότητα της μακροοικονομικής θεωρίας είναι αντικειμενικώς περιορισμένη και η διαμόρφωση της μακροοικονομικής πολιτικής μοιραίως εξαρτάται, επίσης, από (αμιγώς) πολιτικούς παράγοντες – που μελετώνται από την πολιτική θεωρία και αναγνωρίζονται στην πολιτική οικονομία. Η πρόσφατη κρίση θέτει υπό πολύ σοβαρή αμφισβήτηση θεωρητικά υποδείγματα, αλλά και ιδεολογικές θέσεις, που υποστηρίζουν ότι η […]
Fiscal policy and income inequality
IMF. Fiscal policy is the primary tool for governments to affect income distribution. Rising income inequality in advanced and developing economies has coincided with growing public support for income redistribution. This comes at a time when fiscal restraint is an important priority in many advanced and developing economies. In the context of the Fund’s mandate […]
Economic Performance Index: An industry-centric measurement approach
Mike Orszag, Urvi Shriram, Dennis J Snower. Economic performance is increasingly defined by the idiosyncratic characteristics of companies operating across national borders, making anachronistic the treatment of the country as the basic unit of economic analysis when measuring performance. This column presents a new way of measuring economic performance and describes the Economic Performance Index […]