Beyond fiscal federalism: What does it take to save to euro?
Corsetti, Giancarlo, Pesaran, Hashem. High debt levels, house price booms, uncompetitive labour markets – the list of possible reasons why some European countries are facing the wrath of the market are many. This column argues that they all boil down to one measure – inflation. Using the inflation differentials as a guide is the first step […]
Diseases and development: Does life expectancy increase income growth?
Cervellati, Matteo, Sunde, Uwe. Does rising life expectancy boost economic growth? Existing evidence is mixed, with the relationship appearing to change over time. This column presents recent research showing that living longer may have a negative effect on growth to begin with, but once fertility declines the effect becomes significantly positive. Moreover, higher life expectancy […]
Η χειρότερη καθωσπρέπει χώρα
Σχίζας, Μάνος. Μέρες που είναι, ο κόσμος διψά για ιστορίες γεμάτες ελπίδα και θαύματα: τροφαντοί γέροντες με γενειάδες μπαίνουν στα σπίτια μας από την καμινάδα και μοιράζουν δώρα, Θεία Βρέφη γεννιούνται σε φάτνες και σώζουν τον κόσμο από τις αμαρτίες του, και η φύση νικά όπως πάντα τον θάνατο για να κυλίσει πάλι ο αέναος […]
The Decline and Fall of the Euro?
Gros, Daniel. Great empires rarely succumb to outside attacks. But they often crumble under the weight of internal dissent. This vulnerability seems to apply to the eurozone as well. Key macroeconomic indicators do not suggest any problem for the eurozone as a whole. On the contrary, it has a balanced current account, which means that […]
A tale of three countries: recovery after banking crises
Darvas, Zsolt. Three small, open European economies — Iceland, Ireland and Latvia – experienced serious trouble during the global financial crisis. Behind their problems were rapid credit growth and expansion of other banking activities in the years leading up to the crisis, largely financed by international borrowing. The crisis hit Latvia harder than any other […]
Happy 2012?
Wyplosz, Charles. Another year, and the Eurozone crisis lingers on. This column asks why, and discusses what can be done. It proposes a solution that can be achieved without the pain of a new EU treaty. Πηγή: Voxeu πλήρες κείμενο
Apart from the fiscal compact – on competitiveness, nominal wages and labour productivity
Ard den Reijer, Peeters, Marga. While EU leaders are drafting a fiscal compact, the problem of intra-European real exchange-rate misalignments remains. This column argues that reducing imbalances implies a focus on competitiveness, and hence on the alignment of nominal-wage growth with labour-productivity growth. Πηγή: Voxeu πλήρες κείμενο
Rethinking the Growth Imperative
Rogoff, Kenneth. Modern macroeconomics often seems to treat rapid and stable economic growth as the be-all and end-all of policy. That message is echoed in political debates, central-bank boardrooms, and front-page headlines. But does it really make sense to take growth as the main social objective in perpetuity, as economics textbooks implicitly assume? Πηγή: Project Syndicate […]
Keynes Was Right
Krugman, Paul. “The boom, not the slump, is the right time for austerity at the Treasury.” So declared John Maynard Keynes in 1937, even as F.D.R. was about to prove him right by trying to balance the budget too soon, sending the United States economy — which had been steadily recovering up to that point […]
Blanchard on 2011’s four hard truths
Blanchard, Olivier. 2011 was supposed to be the year that saw the back of the Global Crisis. Alas, the crisis is still with us as the North Atlantic banking part of the crisis morphed into the Eurozone crisis, and slow growth in advanced countries once again threatens emerging economies. In this column, IMF chief economist […]