Ντράγκι, Μάριο (2015) “Σταθερότητα και ευημερία στη Νομισματική Ένωση“, Αθηναϊκή Επιθεώρηση Βιβλίου, Τεύχος 58, 05 Ιανουαρίου. 1. Συχνά θεωρούμε λανθασμένα ότι η Ευρωπαϊκή Ένωση –και η ζώνη του ευρώ– είναι οικονομικές ενώσεις που δεν στηρίζονται σε πολιτική ένωση. Αυτό αντανακλά μια βαθιά παρανόηση για το τι σημαίνει οικονομική ένωση: είναι από τη φύση της πολιτική. Η Ενιαία Αγορά είναι η ίδια ένα πολιτικό κατασκεύασμα που δεν θα μπορούσε να …Read More
Why so many commodity prices are down in the US, yet up in Europe
Frankel, J. (2014) “Why so many commodity prices are down in the US, yet up in Europe“, VoxEU Organisation, 24 Δεκεμβρίου. Commodity prices have been falling in the US. This column argues that monetary policy has played a determining role in the falling prices trend. Monetary tightening is highly anticipated in the US, which is likely to raise short-term interest rates. At the same time, the ECB and Bank …Read More
Christmas economics: Challenging some common beliefs
Birg, L. & Goeddeke, A. (2014) “Christmas economics: Challenging some common beliefs“, VoxEU Organisation, 24 Δεκεμβρίου. Christmas may be not so merry as we hope. Economists have argued that gift giving is an inefficient way to allocate resources, and it is widely suggested that Christmas brings a peak in prices and the number of suicides, or even disrupts the business cycle. This column discusses some conventional wisdom about Christmas …Read More
The sham of central bank independence
Mitchell, B. (2014) “The sham of central bank independence“, Bill Mitchell Blog: Modern Monetary Theory – Macroeconomic Reality, 23 Δεκεμβρίου. Let it be noted that the Japanese government 10-year bond yield hit 0.33 per cent overnight. That tells you that all the scaremongering that has been going on over the last twenty years about hyperinflation, the Japanese government running out of money, the bond markets dumping the yen, and …Read More
How Japan Bankrupted Itself – Lessons For Europe, The story of Japan’s decline — and the lessons for Europe
Stelter, D. (2014) “How Japan Bankrupted Itself – Lessons For Europe, The story of Japan’s decline — and the lessons for Europe“, The Globalist, 19 Δεκεμβρίου. Following the start of Abenomics in 2012, Japan moved back to the center of attention of global financial markets. After two and a half decades of economic stagnation, hopes were high that Japan would escape its long stagnation and deflation. Plenty of economists …Read More
Combatting Eurozone deflation: QE for the people
Muellbauer, J. (2014) “Combatting Eurozone deflation: QE for the people“, VoxEU Organisation, 23 Δεκεμβρίου. Eurozone deflation is likely to become reality when the annual inflation figure for 2014 is announced in January. This column argues that the ECB should develop a strategy that works in the Eurozone’s unique financial setting, instead of following the Fed’s lead. The author proposes that the ECB should pursue ‘quantitative easing for the people’, …Read More
New Theoretical Perspectives on the Distribution of Income and Wealth Among Individuals
Joseph E. Stiglitz, Branko Milanovic & Duncan Foley (Video Presentation) “New Theoretical Perspectives on the Distribution of Income and Wealth Among Individuals“, Institute for New Economic Thinking, 19 Δεκεμβρίου 2014. Inequality has become one of the major talking points amongst economists since the advent of Thomas Piketty’s book Capital in the Twenty-First Century. Piketty argues in the book that the main driver of inequality—the tendency of returns on capital to exceed the …Read More
Buttonwood: Let’s get fiscal, A new book from a prescient economist
Buttonwood: Let’s get fiscal, A new book from a prescient economist, The Economist, 19 Δεκεμβρίου 2014. What is the Japanese word for Schadenfreude? For much of the late 1990s and early 2000s, Western economists and politicians were happy to lecture the Japanese government about the mistakes it made in the aftermath of its asset bubble. But six years after the collapse of Lehman Brothers, the investment bank whose demise …Read More
Understanding Piketty: Merit and rent in a growing economy
Minelli, Ε. (2014) “Understanding Piketty: Merit and rent in a growing economy“, VoxEU Organisation, 19 Δεκεμβρίου. Growth and inequality are back at the centre of the economic debate. This column presents a framework for interpreting Thomas Piketty’s data based on Paul Romer’s model of endogenous growth. Two balanced growth regimes are possible in this framework: one (‘merit’) with a low capital–output ratio, a high interest rate, and high growth; …Read More
Economics Has to Come to Terms with Wealth and Income Inequality
Lynn Parramore: Interview with Joseph Stiglitz: “Economics Has to Come to Terms with Wealth and Income Inequality“, Institute for New Economic Thinking, 16 Δεκεμβρίου. Nobel laureate Joseph Stiglitz has been writing about America’s economically divided society since the 1960s. His recent book, The Price of Inequality, argues that this division is holding the country back, a topic he has also explored in research supported by the Institute. On December …Read More