Walker, M. (2014) “Europe Is Closely Studying Lessons from Japan – They Fear Euro Zone Is Falling Into Similar Lethargy”, The Wall Street Journal, 29 Ιουνίου.   If Europe is tilting toward becoming the next Japan, does that mean it needs its own version of Abenomics? Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s announcement last week of fresh measures to improve sluggish growth coincides with an intensified debate in Europe about whether the …Read More

P.W. (2014) “The case against maxing out monetary policy“, Free Exchange–Economics, The Economist, 29 Ιουνίου.   CENTRAL banks in the developed world continue to keep monetary policy as loose as possible for as long as possible in order to facilitate a stronger recovery from the painfully weak upturn after the financial crisis and the “great recession”. America’s Federal Reserve may be phasing out its programme of asset purchases but it …Read More

Véron, Ν. (2014) “Euro crisis turning point: Two years of Banking Union – Europe’s leaders avoided their usual muddling-through complacency to do something radical—and it worked!“, Bruegel Institute, 30 Ιουνίου.   Europe’s banking union, constituting a supranational pooling of most instruments of banking policy, was established two years ago, in the early hours of June 29, 2012. To a greater extent than was initially realized by most observers, this step …Read More

Samadashvili, S. (2014) The magnetic pull of Europe’s soft power, EU Observer, Opinion Article, 27 Ιουνίου.   As Georgia, Moldova, and Ukraine finalise association and free trade (DCFTA) agreements with Europe today (27 June), these Eastern Partners, together with the EU, are proving that while geography is destiny, history does not have to be so. The EU’s Eastern Partnership policy is the bridge which connects Europe to countries which were …Read More

Oliver, T. (2014) “A ‘Brexit’ would have important implications at the European and international levels“, LSE EUROPP, 24 Ιουνίου.   The implications of a ‘Brexit’ for the UK have been widely discussed, but the implications for the EU and other international powers have arguably received less attention. Tim Oliver explores the complex set of possibilities and implications at the European and international levels that both the UK and EU need …Read More

Wren-Lewis, S. (2014) “Real wages, monetary policy and innovation“, Mainly Macro Blog, 22 Ιουνίου.   In my drive into Oxford I pass a petrol station that offers a car wash service. Ten or twenty years ago you would have expected this to involve a large degree of automation. However in this particular case it involves a few workers with hoses, mops and buckets. Now anyone who has seen my own …Read More

Morris , M. (2014) “EU: Reframing Can Go Hand in Hand with Reform“, Eurocrisis in the Press, LSE EUROPP, 20 Ιουνίου.   Last year my colleague Giulio Carini and I wrote an article about ‘reframing’ the EU. We thought that the current frames supporters of the EU were using in the debate were obstructive and we wanted to suggest some alternatives. We were particularly motivated to do so because we …Read More

Fazi, Τ. (2014) “It’s Time To Stand Up To Troika Austerity (Part II)“, Social Europe Journal, 19 Ιουνίου.   In the first part of this article I looked at the mounting evidence against austerity by organisations as varied as Caritas, the ILO, the Council of Europe and the IMF. So why is the European establishment pushing for more of the same? Social and economic misery and despair, growing inequality, dwindling public services, …Read More

Wren-Lewis, S. (2014) “Does Politics Dominate Economics In Eurozone Crisis Management?“, Social Europe Journal, 18 Ιουνίου.   Athanasios Orphanides, leading academic macroeconomist and from 2007-12 Governor of the Central Bank of Cyprus, does not hold back in a recent paper. Here is just one quote: “During the crisis, key decision makers exhibited neither political leadership nor political courage. Rather than work towards containing total losses, politics led governments to focus on …Read More

Teulings, C. (2014) “Why does inequality grow? Can we do something about it?“, VoxEU Organisation, 15 Ιουνίου.   The income inequality has increased worldwide in recent years. This column discusses the role of technological progress, globalisation, and the liberalisation of labour-market institutions on the growing inequality. The liberalisation of labour market institutions has made labour markets more flexible and created many jobs. But beyond a certain point, the net effect …Read More