Gros, D. (2014) “The ECB’s Faulty Weapon“, Project Syndicate, 07 Οκτωβρίου.   With inflation in the eurozone stubbornly remaining on a downward trajectory, pressure on the European Central Bank to do “something” to prevent outright deflation is growing. This “something” is usually understood to be massive asset purchases, or quantitative easing (QE). But would QE actually do the trick? The discussion has so far followed easily predictable national patterns: Creditor …Read More

Ilargi Meijer, R. (2014) “Germany’s Bad Numbers Are Great News For All Of Us“, The Automatic Earth Blog, 07 Οκτωβρίου.   Something’s happening in Europe that I would like to cheer and encourage at the top of my lungs. While only yesterday, most European leaders, the ECB and the IMF were busy chiding Germany for not lowering taxes or increasing government investment in its economy, today’s release of German economic …Read More

Mitchell, B. (2014) “The myopia of neo-liberalism and the IMF is now evident to all“, Mainly Macro Blog, 08 Οκτωβρίου.   The IMF published its October – World Economic Outlook – yesterday (October 7, 2014) and the news isn’t good. And remember this is the IMF, which is prone to overestimating growth, especially in times of fiscal austerity. What we are now seeing in these publications is recognition that economies …Read More

Oomsels, P. (2014) Better together – a new hope for a federal Europe, EU Observer, 08 Οκτωβρίου.   The victory of the No in the referendum on Scotland’s independence has saved the United Kingdom. However, it is clear that post-referendum UK will be different from pre-referendum UK. This is because, after promises of further devolution of competences made by Westminster, the Scottish No to independence can only be interpreted as …Read More

Saraceno, F. (2014) “The Lost Consistency of European Policy Makers“, Sparse Thoughts of a Gloomy European Economist Blog, 06 Οκτωβρίου.   Just a quick note on something that went surprisingly unnoticed so far. After Draghi’s speech in Jackson Hole, a new consensus seems to have developed among European policy makers, based on three propositions: Europe suffers from deficient aggregate demand Monetary policy has lost traction Investment is key, both as a countercyclical …Read More

Τσούκαλης, Λ. (2014) “Γαλλικός προϋπολογισμός και ευρωπαϊκό αδιέξοδο“, Εφημερίδα «Καθημερινή» – Άρθρο Γνώμης, 02 Οκτωβρίου.   Ο υπουργός Οικονομικών της Γαλλίας, κ. Σαπέν, ανακοίνωσε ότι το δημοσιονομικό έλλειμμα της χώρας του θα συνεχίσει να υπερβαίνει τουλάχιστον μέχρι το 2017 τα όρια που προσπαθούν να επιβάλουν οι Βρυξέλλες, με οδηγό πάντα τη Γερμανία και βάση το δημοσιονομικό σύμφωνο που υιοθέτησαν όλες σχεδόν οι χώρες-μέλη της Ε.Ε., περιλαμβανομένης και της Γαλλίας. Η …Read More

Pisani-Ferry, J. (2014) “Solving Europe’s Credibility Problem“, Project Syndicate, 30 Σεπτεμβρίου.   As the eurozone debates how to escape the stagnation trap in which it finds itself, one question has become increasingly important: Can governments credibly commit to trim public spending in the future while avoiding immediate cuts? Fortunately, the answer is a qualified yes: there are ways to ensure that fiscal accommodation now is followed by consolidation later. Growth …Read More

Stiglitz, J. (2014) “Europe’s Austerity Disaster“, Social Europe Journal, 29 Σεπτεμβρίου.   “If the facts don’t fit the theory, change the theory,” goes the old adage. But too often it is easier to keep the theory and change the facts – or so German Chancellor Angela Merkel and other pro-austerity European leaders appear to believe. Though facts keep staring them in the face, they continue to deny reality. Austerity has …Read More