How to Compete in Europe
Maystadt, Philippe. Interest in the European Union’s competitiveness did not begin with the euro crisis. Safeguarding Europe’s advanced position in the world economy was, after all, a key motivation behind the creation of the single market. Since then, interest in EU competitiveness has risen further, spurred in particular by the challenge posed by countries like […]
Politics Is at the Root of the Problem
Stiglitz, Joseph. Αusterity policies are driving us towards a double-dip recession, warns US economist Joseph Stiglitz. He sat down with Martin Eiermann to discuss new economic thinking and the influence of money in politics. Πηγή:theeuropean-magazine.com πλήρες κείμενο
A World Adrift
Sachs, Jeffrey. The annual spring meetings of the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank have provided a window onto two fundamental trends driving global politics and the world economy. Geopolitics is moving decisively away from a world dominated by Europe and the United States to one with many regional powers but no global leader. […]
Is high public debt harmful for economic growth?
Panizza, Ugo, Presbitero, Andrea. Countries with high public debt tend to grow slowly – a correlation often used to justify austerity. This column presents new evidence challenging this view. The authors point out that correlation does not imply causality – it may be that slow growth causes high debt. They argue that policymakers should be wary […]
What’s the Matter with Argentina?
Acemoglu, Daron, Robinson, James. One hundred years ago Argentina was one of the richest countries in the world. For fifty years it rode a wave of favorable market opportunities and experienced one of the most successful periods of extractive growth in world history (sharing these honors with the Soviet Union and contemporary China or Sinagpore). Πηγή: […]
Europe’s Short Vacation
Roubini, Nouriel. Since last November, the European Central Bank, under its new president, Mario Draghi, has reduced its policy rates and undertaken two injections of more than €1 trillion of liquidity into the eurozone banking system. This led to a temporary reduction in the financial strains confronting the debt endangered countries on the eurozone’s periphery […]
Economy killers: Inequality and GOP ignorance
Krugman, Paul, Wells, Robin. America emerged from the Great Depression and the Second World War with a much more equal distribution of income than it had in the 1920s; our society became middle-class in a way it hadn’t been before. This new, more equal society persisted for 30 years. But then we began pulling apart, […]
Argentina’s critics are wrong again about renationalising oil
Weisbrot, Mark. The Argentinian government’s decision to renationalise the oil and gas company YPF has been greeted with howls of outrage, threats, forecasts of rage and ruin, and a rude bit of name-calling in the international press. We have heard all this before. Πηγή: The Guardian πλήρες κείμενο
Competition Is Healthy for Governments, Too
Mankiw, Gregory. Should governments — of nations, states and towns — compete like business rivals? The question is simpler to ask than to answer. But it reflects why conservatives and liberals disagree on many big issues facing the nation. Πηγή: The New York Times πλήρες κείμενο
The Trouble with Libertarian Paternalism
Rajan, Raghuram. There are many arguments against government paternalism: apart from limiting individual choice (for example, the choice to remain uninsured in the current health-care debate in the United States) and preventing individuals from learning, history suggests time and again that the conventional wisdom prevalent in society is wrong. And, since governments typically try to […]