Milanovic, Branko, (2016), “Inequality: The Structural Aspects”, Social Europe Journal, 17  February Despite the unprecedented attention that income and wealth inequality has received in this year’s presidential campaign in the United States and in several recent elections in Europe, one cannot but have the impression that, for many centrist politicians, inequality is just a passing fad. Relevant Posts F. Campos, Nauro, B Nugent, Jeffrey, (2016), “Labour market reforms, growth and inequality: Evidence from …Read More

Eichengreen, Barry, Wyplosz, Charles, (2016), “How the Euro Crisis was successfully resolved”, Voxeu, 12 February When the newly elected Greek government of George Papandreou revealed that its predecessor had doctored the books, financial markets reacted violently. This column discusses the steps implemented by policymakers following this episode, which were essential in resolving the Crisis. What is remarkable, in hindsight, is the combination of pragmatism and reasoning based on sound economic principles displayed by …Read More

Stiglitz, Joseph, Rashid, Hamid, (2016), “What’s Holding Back the World Economy?”, Project Syndicate, 8 February Seven years after the global financial crisis erupted in 2008, the world economy continued to stumble in 2015. According to the United Nations’ report World Economic Situation and Prospects 2016, the average growth rate in developed economies has declined by more than 54% since the crisis. An estimated 44 million people are unemployed in developed …Read More

Sandri, Damiano, (2016), “How to resolve a systemic sovereign debt crisis”, Voxeu, 17 February How should the international community deal with the solvency crisis of a systemic country? This column argues that the presence of spillovers calls for reducing bail-ins, while requiring somewhat greater fiscal adjustment by the crisis country. To avoid excessive fiscal consolidation, the international community should also provide highly systemic countries with official transfers. To contain moral …Read More

Wren Lewis, Simon, (2016), “How The Eurozone Can Be Reformed”, Social Europe Journal, 15 February The 50th anniversary issue of Intereconomics is out, and I have a contribution which summarises how I think the Eurozone could succeed without deeply problematic attempts at fiscal and political union. I look at three areas where change is required, and then rerun history to show how the Eurozone crisis could have been transformed into no more …Read More