Dullien, S. (2014) “Why A European Unemployment Insurance Would Help To Make EMU More Sustainable“, Social Europe Journal, 03 Οκτωβρίου.   Since the onset of the euro-crisis, the old debate pertaining to the supra-national stabilisers in the euro-area has gained new relevance. While economic textbooks have long stipulated that countries forming a monetary union need an alternative mechanism for dealing with asymmetric shocks and even the early feasibility studies on …Read More

Mazzolini, G. & Mody, A. (2014) “Austerity Tales: the Netherlands and Italy“, Bruegel Think Tank, 03 Οκτωβρίου.   The analysis in this article warns that the deflation is likely to be a country-specific phenomenon, requiring counter measures at the country level In 2008 and early-2009, most euro area countries joined in an internationally-coordinated stimulus of the global economy to ward off the menacing crisis. But by late-2009, especially after the …Read More

Siekmann, H. & Wieland, V. (2014) “The German Constitutional Court’s decision on OMT: Have markets misunderstood?“, Centre for Economic Policy Research, Policy Insight No. 74, Οκτώβριος.   The European Central Bank’s announcement of the Outright Monetary Transactions (OMT) program in summer 2012 is widely credited, not least by the ECB itself, as a key factor in the subsequent decline of sovereign risk premia in the Eurozone. Following the February 2014 …Read More

Blanchard, O. (2014) “Where danger lurks“, International Monetary Fund, Finance and Development, Σεπτέμβριος.   The recent financial crisis has taught us to pay attention to dark corners, where the economy can malfunction badly Until the 2008 global financial crisis, mainstream U.S. macroeconomics had taken an increasingly benign view of economic fluctuations in output and employment. The crisis has made it clear that this view was wrong and that there is …Read More

Renzi, M. (2014) “Prime Minister Matteo Renzi on Growth and Jobs in Italy – A Conversation With Matteo Renzi“, Council on Foreign Relations (CFR), 24 Σεπτεμβρίου.   PORAT: Good afternoon. My name is Ruth Porat, and I’m a member of the board of the Council and am delighted to welcome you here today to our meeting with Prime Minister Matteo Renzi. I’d also like to welcome the CFR members around …Read More

Kirkegaard, F. J. (2014) “ECB Sovereign Bond Purchases Remain Unlikely“, Peterson Institute for International Economics, 01 Οκτωβρίου.   The European Central Bank (ECB) is reportedly on the cusp of another round of euro area sovereign bond purchases. Proponents of such a move say it is necessary if the ECB is to grow its balance sheet by the €750 billion to €1 trillion signaled by its president, Mario Draghi, on September …Read More

Mitchell, B. (2014) “Direct central bank purchases of government debt“, Bill Mitchell Blog, 02 Οκτωβρίου.   There was a recently published Federal Reserve Bank of New York Staff Report – Direct Purchases of U.S. Treasury Securities by Federal Reserve Banks – by Kenneth D. Garbade, which recounts the way the central bank in the US could purchase unlimited amounts of treasury debt by creating funds out of thin air and …Read More

Altomonte, C. & Aguilante, T. (2014) “The ‘dos and don’ts’ of a growth-friendly policy mix for the Euro area – combining monetary, fiscal and structural measures at the union level and at the national level“, Bruegel Think Tank, 01 Οκτωβρίου.   When looking at possible ways out of the euro area crisis, there is a growing consensus that it will require “a policy mix that combines monetary, fiscal and structural measures at the …Read More