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 […]
Fact-checking financial recessions
Schularick, Moritz, Taylor, Alan. The central part played by credit in the deep downturn and weak recovery fits a recurring historical pattern. Financial crises correlate with more painful recessions. This column takes a close look at 14 advanced economies over the past 140 years and shows that larger credit booms during expansions have been systematically associated […]
Central Banks on the Offensive?
Pisani-Ferry, Jean. It looks like a coordinated offensive: on September 6, the European Central Bank outlined a new bond-buying program, letting markets know that there were no pre-set limits to its purchases. On September 13, the United States Federal Reserve announced that in the coming months it would purchase some $85 billion of long-term securities […]
Notes On Internal Devaluation
Still in jet-lag city. Talking to people, and also reading what comes across the threshold, it occurs to me that there’s widespread misunderstanding of what a more or less Keynesian view of Europe’s problems actually implies. People seem to think that it means that (a) internal devaluation can never work (b) any sign of recovery, […]
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
The doomsday cycle turns: Who’s next?
Johnson, Simon, Boone, Peter. Industrialised countries today face serious risks – for their financial sectors, for their public finances, and for their growth prospects. This column explains how, through our financial systems, we have created enormous, complex financial structures that can inflict tragic consequences with failure and yet are inherently difficult to regulate and control. […]
Fiscal rules: Timing is everything
Marzinottο, Βenedicta, Sapir, André. The strengthening of the European Union’s fiscal rules with the approval of the so-called ‘six-pack’, and the parallel worsening of economic conditions in Europe, re-opened the debate about the relationship between fiscal discipline and growth. Influential voices have argued against the EU’s perceived obsession with fiscal discipline, which risks being self-defeating […]
Νίκος Κουτσιαράς: Η σημασία των πρόσφατων αποφάσεων της Ευρωπαϊκής Κεντρικής Τράπεζας (για την ευρωζώνη και την Ελλάδα)
Την Πέμπτη, 7 Σεπτεμβρίου 2012, το διοικητικό συμβούλιο της Ευρωπαϊκής Κεντρικής Τράπεζας (ΕΚΤ) αποφάσισε την διατήρηση του βασικού επιτοκίου πολιτικής στο 0,75% και, πράγμα πολύ σημαντικότερο –τουλάχιστον κατά πως έγινε κοινώς αντιληπτό- καθόρισε τους όρους και τις προϋποθέσεις εφαρμογής του νέου προγράμματός της για την αγορά κρατικών ομολόγων στην δευτερογενή αγορά – του καλούμενου προγράμματος […]
How central banks contributed to the financial crisis
Biggs, Michael, Mayer, Thomas. Even before the crisis, there were some who stressed that monetary policy should keep an eye on asset bubbles and the growth of credit. This column argues that the policy of inflation targeting, used widely in the 1990s and 2000s, did indeed lead to excessive credit growth that eventually bred financial […]
Why early sovereign default could save the euro
Hau, Harald, Hege, Ulrich. The recent announcement by the ECB that it will start to buy Spanish and Italian sovereign debt has been warmly welcomed throughout Europe. But this column argues that by doing so the ECB is digging the euro’s grave. It says the solution is default, either through inflation or debt restructuring – […]