Budget balance, structural unemployment and fiscal adjustments: The Spanish case
Andrés, Javier, Doménech, Rafael. Fiscal adjustment and structural reform are key parts of Eurozone bailout packages (or key features of government policy that aims to avoid such bailouts). This column argues that patience is the most prized virtue of policymakers implementing fiscal adjustment and structural reform. Reducing unemployment and fiscal consolidation are mutually reinforcing, but they […]
Fiscal consolidation and implications of social spending for long-term fiscal sustainability
Merola, Rossana, Sutherland, Douglas. During the economic and financial crisis, fiscal positions across OECD countries deteriorated sharply. This column agues that population ageing and trends in social spending will further challenge the sustainability of fiscal balances. Research suggests that the scale of fiscal consolidation that will be needed to ensure long-term sustainability is large, but policymakers […]
Labor Market Policies and IMF Advice in Advanced Economies during the Great Recession
Blanchard, Olivier, Jaumotte, Florence & Loungani, Prakash. Τhis paper does two things. First, it articulates what are the main implications of theoretical and empirical research for design of labor market policies and labor market institutions. Second, in this light, the paper analyzes the IMF’s labor market recommendations since the beginning of the crisis, both in […]
A Modern History of Fiscal Prudence and Profligacy
Mauro, Paolo, Romeu, Rafael, Binder, Ariel & Zaman, Asad. We draw on a newly collected historical dataset of fiscal variables for a large panel of countries—to our knowledge, the most comprehensive database currently available—to gauge the degree of fiscal prudence or profligacy for each country over the past several decades. Specifically, our dataset consists of […]
Sweden – a false icon for Thatcherites
Skidelsky, Robert. It is ironic that social democratic Sweden has become a Thatcherite icon. They say that cuts in public spending were the main cause of Sweden’s economic recovery from the slump of 1992-3. Most experts think that the 30% devaluation of the krona was rather more important . Πηγή: Project Syndicate πλήρες κείμενο
Spending, income, and debt responses to minimum-wage hikes
Aaronson, Daniel, French, Eric. How are spending, income and debt affected by minimum-wage hikes? This column argues that putting money into the hands of consumers, especially low-income consumers, ultimately leads to predictable increases in spending. Evidence suggests that a $1 wage hike increases household spending by minimum-wage workers – usually in the form of collateralised debt […]
Austerity needed to start, now we need a fiscal union
Wolff, Guntram. The main driver of public debt increases in the last 4 years has been high public deficits, not austerity. Budget consolidation is necessary to avoid excessive increases in debt levels. The central question is about the best moment to pursue the adjustment. I provide a simple scenario analysis, which suggests that fiscal adjustment […]
Investigating the effect of exchange-rate changes in Japan, China, east Asia, and Europe
Thorbecke, Willem. Policymakers everywhere are concerned about currency wars. Are quantitative easing and managed exchange rates bad for the global economy? This column looks at the hard empirical evidence, arguing that, in fact, Japan is behaving rather responsibly and that other strong economies have themselves benefited from undervalued currencies. That said, it is true that […]
Helicopter money
Grenville, Stephen. What would the overt monetary financing of fiscal deficits involve? This column explains the differences between “printing money”, quantitative easing, and overt monetary finance. Lord Turner’s proposed “helicopter drop” raises issues for banks’ balance sheets and central bank independence. Πηγή: Voxeu πλήρες κείμενο
Πολλαπλασιαστές: Για να ξέρουμε τι λέμε!
Βαρουφάκης, Γιάνης. Αυτό τον καιρό η έννοια του δημοσιονομικού πολλαπλασιαστή έχει αποκτήσει σημαντική πολιτική σημασία, καθώς δραπέτευσε από τα εγχειρίδια των μακροοικονομικών και κυριαρχεί στον δημόσιο διάλογο τόσο στην Ελλάδα όσο και αλλού. Καλό είναι λοιπόν να ξέρουμε τι λέμε όταν αναφερόμαστε σε αυτόν. Πηγή: www.protagon.gr πλήρες κείμενο