European Central Bank (ECB), (2017), “The international role of the euro”, Annual Review, July This report covers developments in 2016 and early 2017. This period was characterised by heightened non-economic risks stemming in particular from geopolitical developments, elections in some euro area countries, economic policy uncertainty in the wake of the outcome of the United Kingdom’s referendum on EU membership and the arrival of a new US administration, as well …Read More
Growing, shrinking, and long-run economic performance
Broadberry, Stephen, Wallis, John Joseph, (2017) “Growing, shrinking, and long-run economic performance”, VoxEU, 5 July Most analysis of long-run economic performance abstracts from short-run fluctuations and seeks to explain improved performance through an increase in the rate of growth. Using data on annual rates of change of per capita income reaching back to the 13th century for some countries, this column show that improved long-run performance has actually occurred primarily …Read More
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European Safe Bond: Handle With Care
Baglioni, Angelo, Hamaui, Rony, (2017), “European Safe Bond: Handle With Care”, Social Europe, 5 July In the Euro Area there is a scarcity of risk-free securities; these are issued today only by a few sovereigns with a very high rating, but not by any European institution given strong German opposition. This situation creates huge capital flows in stress periods (flight-to-quality) and it contributes to the diabolic loop between bank and sovereign …Read More
Library » EU » Economy » Opinion Articles
The rise of redistributive politics in the EU is setting limits on the completion of Economic and Monetary Union
Vilpišauskas, Ramūnas , (2017), “The rise of redistributive politics in the EU is setting limits on the completion of Economic and Monetary Union”, LSE EUROPP, 24 June One of the key areas of controversy in responses to the Eurozone crisis has been the notion of transferring financial resources from prosperous economies in the North to struggling economies in the South. Ramūnas Vilpišauskas argues that this issue has effectively put redistributive politics …Read More
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Getting It Right: Youth Employment Policy within the EU
Pastore, Francesco, (2017), “Getting It Right: Youth Employment Policy within the EU”, IZA Institute of Labor Economics, Policy Paper Series, IZA Policy Paper No.127, May This essay discusses the determinants of youth unemployment within the EU and then the alternative policy options currently at stake. We argue that youth unemployment regards especially some peripheral EU countries and is due to a mix of factors that should be addressed more vigorously, …Read More
The European banking union at three: A toddler with tantrums
Beck, Thorsten, (2017), “The European banking union at three: A toddler with tantrums”, Vox Eu, 3 July 2017 A little less than three years ago, the bank regulatory framework in the Eurozone seemed to have reached a decisive moment, with the completion of the Comprehensive Assessment and the establishment of the Single Supervisory Mechanism and Single Resolution Mechanism, and the implementation of the Bank Recovery and Resolution Directive (BRRD). Taxpayer-funded …Read More
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Fiscal Reforms, Long-term Growth and Income Inequality
Correa-Caro, Carolina, Ormaechea, Santiago Acosta, Komatsuzaki, Takuji, (2017), “Fiscal Reforms, Long-term Growth and Income Inequality”, IMF Working Paper 17/145, 29 June We estimate the effects on growth of nine fiscal reform episodes in seven high-income countries using the Synthetic Control Method. These episodes are selected using an indicator-based approach applied to the evaluation of growth-friendly fiscal reforms during 1975-2010. We find that in reform countries the annual growth rate of real GDP …Read More
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Reflecting on how to run €MU more effectively
Begg, Iain, (2017), “Reflecting on how to run €MU more effectively”, LSE EUROPP, 29 June Earlier this year, the European Commission published a consultative White Paper setting out a number of scenarios on the Future of Europe and undertook to nourish the ensuing debates by releasing a series of Reflection Papers on key dimensions of the development of the Union. Among these is the recently-released one on the deepening of …Read More
Library » EU » Economy » Politics » Opinion Articles
Eurozone or EU budget? Confronting a complex political question
Wolff, Guntram B., (2017), “Eurozone or EU budget? Confronting a complex political question”, Bruegel, 29 June The European Commission has just published its reflection paper on the future of the EU budget. It touches on many topics, but at its heart the paper is agonising over one political question: Should there be a euro-area budget distinct from the overall EU budget? And if so, what kind of interplay will there …Read More
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Euro area annual inflation down to 1.3%
Eurostat/Euro area annual inflation down to 1.3%/30 June 2017 Euro area annual inflation is expected to be 1.3% in June 2017, down from 1.4% in May 2017, according to a flash estimate from Eurostat, the statistical office of the European Union. Looking at the main components of euro area inflation, energy is expected to have the highest annual rate in June (1.9%, compared with 4.5% in May), followed by services …Read More