Batsaikhan, Uuriintuya, Darvas, Zsolt, (2017),  “European spring – Trust in the EU and democracy is recovering”, Bruegel, 24 Μαρτίου Increased support for populistic movements in the world’s richer countries is typically explained by two types of disappointment: economic insecurity and cultural backlash. Economic insecurity is fuelled by various factors, such as increased unemployment, slow wage growth or even wage drops, fears of ‘robotisation’, and cuts in social support through fiscal …Read More

Boumparis, Periklis, Milas, Costas, Panagiotis, Theodore, (2017), “Fair or not? How credit rating agencies calculated their ratings during the Eurozone crisis”, LSE EUROPP, 23 Μαρτίου Credit rating agencies received a great deal of criticism during the Eurozone crisis, but what actually explains the changes that occur in a country’s credit rating? Drawing on new research, Periklis Boumparis, Costas Milas and Theodore Panagiotidis write that ratings agencies have responded differently to low-rated and …Read More

Kirkegaard, Jacob, Funk , (2017), “Is Italy Europe’s Next Big Worry?”, Peterson Institute, 21 Μαρτίου Despite the prospects of a good year economically and politically for the euro area in 2017, uncertainty hangs on the horizon over Italy. Once the French election in May is over, investors’ attention will likely turn to Italy, where an election is due no later than May 2018. But the country may not be capable of …Read More

Marzinotto, Benedicta, (2017),  “The Eurozone is Still Vulnerable”, Project Syndicate, 22 Μαρτίου When the economic calculus reverses, we can expect to experience a sense of déjà vu. Each country’s gain will entail another country’s loss, which will undermine inter-eurozone cooperation and fuel political tensions. The effects will likely reverberate through each country’s domestic politics, strengthening forces that favor disintegration. To be sure, reforms that were implemented in response to the …Read More

Roche, Bill , O’ Connell, Philip , Prothero, Andy , (2017), “Η Ιρλανδία έδωσε μαθήματα δημοσιονομικής εξυγίανσης”, Καθημερινή, 18 Μαρτίου Το 2015, πολλοί παρέθεταν τα στοιχεία της ιρλανδικής κυβέρνησης για να πείσουν τους ομολόγους τους στην Ελλάδα να μιμηθούν το παράδειγμα της Ιρλανδίας και να αντλήσουν τα ίδια οφέλη. Ωστόσο, ο οικονομολόγος Στίβεν Κινσέλα εξηγεί σε βιβλίο που εξέδωσε πρόσφατα ότι είναι πιο ρεαλιστικό να βλέπει κανείς την Ιρλανδία όχι σαν …Read More

Bloomberg, (2017), “Governments Have Put the ECB in a Bind”, Bloomberg, 20 Μαρτίου If you think it will be hard for the U.S. Federal Reserve to normalize monetary policy, spare a thought for the European Central Bank. The euro zone’s monetary guardians have said they will continue to buy 60 billion euros a month in government and corporate bonds until the end of 2017. Headline inflation is running at 2 …Read More

Gros, Daniel, (2017), “Mixed Signals from the Eurozone”, Project Syndicate, 16 Μαρτίου What does the eurozone’s future hold? It depends where you look. Some economic indicators suggest that things are looking up for the common currency’s survival; for example, employment has returned to its pre-crisis peak, and per capita GDP growth exceeded that of the United States last year. At the same time, political risks seem to be increasing, despite …Read More