Keynesian vicissitudes
Kundnani, Hans. The first story I covered as a Berlin correspondent for The Observer in 1999 was the resignation of German Social Democrat leader and finance minister Oskar Lafontaine. Lafontaine was seen as a Keynesian and therefore viewed with suspicion by many Anglo-Saxons. A few months before his resignation, The Sun even famously called Lafontaine “the most dangerous […]
Euro needs a reset
Eichengreen, Barry. Εuropean monetary union requires a reboot but hopes it can happen by the end of the year are misplaced With every day that passes, it becomes harder to deny that Europe’s leap to monetary union was a mistake. Creating a monetary union without also creating a banking union allowed the continent’s banks to run […]
The Policy Mix and Macroeconomic Adjustment in the Euro Area
Mortensen, Jørgen, Alcidi, Cinzia. Against the background of the IMF’s latest global economic forecast, Jørgen Mortensen and Cinzia Alcidi raise questions in a new CEPS Commentary about the timing of the implementation and the effects of the three main categories of economic policy – fiscal, monetary and structural. Πηγή: CEPS πλήρες κείμενο
The Truth About Sovereignty
Dani Rodrik In the French parliament’s recent debate on Europe’s new fiscal treaty, the country’s Socialist government vehemently denied that ratification of the treaty would undermine French sovereignty. It places “not one constraint on the level of public spending,” Jean-Marc Ayrault, the prime minister, asserted. “Budget sovereignty remains in the parliament of the French Republic.” […]
Europe’s growth model
Gill, Indermit, Raiser, Martin. It is common these days to read and hear Europeans calling for a ‘new growth model.’ This column argues that the end of complacency in Europe is a good thing, but this loss of confidence could be dangerous. It also discusses what needs to be done to make the European economic model […]
Stage Three for the Euro Crisis?
DeLong, Bradford. The first two components of the euro crisis – a banking crisis that resulted from excessive leverage in both the public and private sectors, followed by a sharp fall in confidence in eurozone governments – have been addressed successfully, or at least partly so. But that leaves the third, longest-term, and most dangerous […]
There is no historical precedent for the break-up of the eurozone.
The consequences of the eurozone breaking up represent one of the great unknowns in the present economic crisis. Jens Nordvig writes that while there have been several examples of currency unions breaking apart in the past, the scale of the eurozone and its importance to the global economy would make such an event unprecedented. Even […]
Fiscal consolidation in Sweden: A role model?
Flodén, Martin. As is well known among economists, Sweden had its own financial crisis in the early 1990s and their public finances were quickly consolidated. This column asks whether the Swedish policy measures serve as a role model for how to handle the current crisis? Πηγή: Voxeu πλήρες κείμενο
The role of wage setting institutions on wage cyclicality: Some unexpected patterns from Germany
Gartner, Hermann, Schank, Thorsten & Schnabel, Claus. It is often argued that trade unions lead to higher wages but, according to the findings presented in this column, collective bargaining cannot be blamed for sticky wages in Germany during the 1990s. Πηγή: Voxeu πλήρες κείμενο
Deposit Flight From Europe Banks Eroding Common Currency
Onaran, Yalman. An accelerating flight of deposits from banks in four European countries is jeopardizing the renewal of economic growth and undermining a main tenet of the common currency: an integrated financial system. Πηγή: Bloomberg πλήρες κείμενο