Gros, D., (2013), “Has Austerity Failed in Europe?”, www.project-syndicate.org, 14 Αυγούστου. Although many European governments have announced expenditure cuts and tax hikes, their debt/GDP ratios continue to deteriorate. So, if the purpose of austerity was to reduce debt levels, its critics are right: fiscal belt-tightening has failed. But the goal of austerity was not just to stabilize debt ratios.
Houben, A., Kakes, J., (2013), “Unity in diversity: Protecting the common market with divergent macroprudential policies”, www.voxeu.org , 30 Ιουλίου. Financial cycles have increasingly diverged across members of the Eurozone. National macroprudential tools are thus key to managing financial imbalances and protecting Europe’s economic integration. This column discusses research suggesting that reasonable macroprudential policies by the GIIPS countries in the euro’s first decade would have helped avoid much pain in …Read More
Frankel, Jeffrey, (2013), “How Many European Recessions?”, www.project-syndicate.org, 17 Ιουλίου. The release of revised GDP data by the United Kingdom’s Office for National Statistics in late June seemed like an occasion for cheer, because growth had not quite been negative for two consecutive quarters in the winter of 2011-12, as previously thought. The point, as it was reported, is that a second UK recession following the global financial crisis in …Read More
Παγουλάτος, Γιώργος, (2013), “Ο Αδόλφος, ο Ωνάσης και η ευρωκρίση”, 21 Ιουλίου. Ποια θα ήταν η εξέλιξη των πραγμάτων εάν κάποιο κομβικό γεγονός είχε συμβεί διαφορετικά; Είναι συνήθης ο πειρασμός να σκεφτόμαστε ξανά την ιστορία ή τη ζωή στη βάση υποθετικών σεναρίων (what if), που αντιστρέφουν την πραγματικότητα. Οπως έχει γραφτεί μεταξύ αστείου και σοβαρού, εάν κάποιος, την κρίσιμη στιγμή, είχε αναφωνήσει «πολύ ωραίος πίνακας, Αδόλφε!», ενθαρρύνοντας τον Χίτλερ να …Read More
Zingales, Luigi, (2013), “German Banks on Top”, www.project-syndicate.org, 18 Ιουλίου. Overcoming the European Union’s current economic malaise, as almost everyone acknowledges, requires deeper integration, with the first step taking the form of a banking union supervised by the European Central Bank. But Europe’s banking union also requires uniform rules for winding up insolvent financial institutions – and this has become a sticking point.
Burda, Michael, (2013), “Redesigning the ECB with regional rather than national central banks”, www.voxeu.org, 15 Ιουλίου. Eurozone national central banks that take a national perspective risk politicising the ECB’s monetary policy. This column argues that this is a significant risk that should be overcome with a fundamental overhaul of the Eurosystem. A central element would be to take the ‘national’ out of the EZ’s national central banks. Just as US …Read More
Burda, Michael, (2013), “Redesigning the ECB with regional rather than national central banks”, www.voxeu.com, 15 Ιουλίου. Eurozone national central banks that take a national perspective risk politicising the ECB’s monetary policy. This column argues that this is a significant risk that should be overcome with a fundamental overhaul of the Eurosystem. A central element would be to take the ‘national’ out of the EZ’s national central banks. Just as US regional …Read More
Gros, Daniel, (2013), “Europe’s Zombie Banks”, www.project-syndicate.org, 10 Ιουλίου. What is wrong with Europe’s banks? The short answer is that the sector is too large, has too little capital, and contains too many players that lack a viable long-term business model. It is the combination of the last two factors – an overabundance of banks with no sustainable way to turn a profit – that constitutes the most serious and …Read More
Stiglitz, Joseph, (2013), “The Free Trade Charade”, www.project-syndicate.org, 4 Ιουλίου. Though nothing has come of the World Trade Organization’s Doha Development Round of global trade negotiations since they were launched almost a dozen years ago, another round of talks is in the works. But this time the negotiations will not be held on a global, multilateral basis; rather, two huge regional agreements – one transpacific, and the other transatlantic – …Read More
Bartels, Bernhard, Weder di Mauro, Beatrice, (2013), “A rating agency for Europe-A good idea?”, www.voxeu.org, 4 Ιουλίου. US-based credit-rating agencies are regularly subject to condemnation for causing or amplifying financial crises – the Eurozone Crisis in particular. Should Europe try to set up a European agency to counter this? This column discusses evidence that shows that the largest German rating agency was more aggressive than the US Big Three both …Read More
