A budget for Europe’s monetary union
Wolff, Guntram. In a monetary union, national fiscal deficits are of limited help to counteract deep recessions; union-wide support is needed. A common euro-area budget (1) should provide a temporary but significant transfer of resources in case of large regional shocks, (2) would be an instrument to counteract severe recessions in the area as a […]
The Quiet Coup
Johnson, Simon. The crash has laid bare many unpleasant truths about the United States. One of the most alarming, says a former chief economist of the International Monetary Fund, is that the finance industry has effectively captured our government—a state of affairs that more typically describes emerging markets, and is at the center of many […]
Restructuring sovereign debt, 1950–2010: From process to outcomes
Das, Udaibir, Papaioannou, Michael & Trebesch, Christoph. There is an ongoing debate about debt restructurings, debt buybacks and other strategies to resolve sovereign debt crises. Unfortunately there is limited empirical knowledge about the process and outcome of past restructurings to guide the debate and help tackle future crises. This column is an attempt to fill this gap […]
Macroeconomic adjustment and the history of crises in open economies
Aizenman, Joshua, Noy, Ilan. Are countries that have previously experienced banking crises less vulnerable to them in the future? This column argues that, in fact, previous crises might make future crises more likely. There isn’t much evidence of a learning process from past mistakes because the regulator often lags behind banking’s pace of innovation. Preparing to […]
Did the Indian capital controls work as a tool of macroeconomic policy?
Ila Patnaik, Ajay Shah. Can we agree that capital controls are an effective tool for macroeconomic policy? If so, should they be permanent or temporary? This column argues that under a permanent system of capital controls, a country will always bear costs whether there is a surge or capital flight or not. Looking at the […]
How to avoid a double-dip recession in the eurozone
De Grauwe, Paul. This CEPS Commentary argues that the way in which the burden of adjustment to the imbalances in the eurozone is borne almost exclusively by the deficit countries in the periphery produces a deflationary bias in the region as a whole. Against the threat of double-dip recession, Paul De Grauwe asserts that the […]
Don’t expect too much from EZ fiscal union – and complete the unfinished integration of European capital markets!
Hoffmann, Mathias. How do members of existing monetary unions share risk? Drawing on a decade of research, this column argues that fiscal transfers in fact make a limited contribution to economic coherence. In the context of Europe’s current crisis, the evidence suggests that unfinished capital market integration must be completed if we wish to see […]
America’s Third-World Politics
Rodrik, Dani. With its presidential election over, the United States can finally take a breather from campaign politics, at least for a while. But an uncomfortable question lingers: How is it possible for the world’s most powerful country and its oldest continuous democracy to exhibit a state of political discourse that is more reminiscent of […]
Economic recovery requires a better deal for labour
Tilford, Simon. Unless labour receives a larger share of the pie, Europe’s economic recovery will prove elusive and popular hostility to markets will grow. Πηγή: CER πλήρες κείμενο
Seeing Our Way Through The Crisis: Why We Need Fiscal Transparency
Cottarelli, Carlo. Without good fiscal information, governments can’t understand the fiscal risks they face or make good budget decisions. And unless that information is made public, citizens and their legislatures can’t hold governments accountable for those decisions. Πηγή: iMFdirect πλήρες κείμενο