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The eye, the needle and the camel: Rich countries can benefit from EU membership

Campos, F. N., Coricelli, F. & Moretti, L. (2014) “The eye, the needle and the camel: Rich countries can benefit from EU membership“, VoxEU Organisation, 05 Aπριλίου.   One concern with EU enlargement is that relatively poorer countries benefit more from becoming members. This column uses data from the 1973 and 1995 enlargements to show that richer countries also benefited a lot from joining the EU. Per capita incomes would …Read More

Alter The European Union: A Conference In Helsinki For Progressive Change

Weeks, J. (2014) “Alter The European Union: A Conference In Helsinki For Progressive Change“, Social Europe Journal, 04 Απριλίου.   At the end of March a coalition of progressive parties and groups organized a meeting in Helsinki focusing on fostering change in the European Union (political program summarized here). For anyone seeking to transform the present EU of the 1% into an EU for the 99% (see my new book, …Read More

The lack of monetary sovereignty is not the reason Eurozone countries struggled during the crisis

Mabbett, D. & Schelkle, W. (2014) “The lack of monetary sovereignty is not the reason Eurozone countries struggled during the crisis“, LSE EUROPP, 04 Απριλίου.   One of the most widespread arguments about the Eurozone crisis is that countries such as Greece, Spain and Italy have been hamstrung by their lack of monetary sovereignty and the ability to devalue their own currency. Deborah Mabbett and Waltraud Schelkle assess this perspective …Read More

On The Alleged Pains of the Strong Euro

Bibow, J. (2014) “On The Alleged Pains of the Strong Euro“, Social Europe Journal, 03 Απριλίου.   Since its most recent low of $1.20, reached in the heat of the summer of 2012, the euro has appreciated by 15 percent against the US dollar and by more than 10 percent in inflation-adjusted terms against a broad basket of currencies representative of the euro area’s main trading partners. Amounting to a …Read More

The Global Economy in 2030: Trends and Strategies for Europe

Gros, D. & Alcidi, C. (2014) “The Global Economy in 2030: Trends and Strategies for Europe“, Economic Policy, CEPS Paperbacks, 02 Απριλίου.   This groundbreaking study concentrates on a set of critical economic factors that will shape future economic growth at the global level and offers a description of the possible evolution of their reach and scope. Our goal in pursuing this research is not to make precise predictions about …Read More

Orderly debt reduction rather than permanent mutualisation is the way to go

Vihriälä, V. & Weder di Mauro, B. (2014) “Orderly debt reduction rather than permanent mutualisation is the way to go“, VoxEU Organisation, 02 Απριλίου.   The EZ debt overhang needs to be fixed. This column argues that making market discipline credible requires an orderly debt restructuring mechanism combined with a strictly regulated temporary mutualisation scheme or a well-designed debt conversion scheme. This combination could reduce the current debt overhang in …Read More

Europe’s social problem and its implications for economic growth

Darvas, Z. & Wolff, B. G. (2014) “Europe’s social problem and its implications for economic growth“, Bruegel Policy Brief, 01 Απριλίου.   The European Union faces major social problems. More than six million jobs were lost from 2008-13 and poverty has increased. Fiscal consolidation has generally attempted to spare social protection from spending cuts, but the distribution of adjustment costs between the young and old has been uneven; a growing …Read More

What has been agreed on banking union risks reigniting, rather than resolving the crisis

Begg, I. (2014) “What has been agreed on banking union risks reigniting, rather than resolving the crisis“, LSE, Euro Crisis in the Press, 02 Απριλίου.   In December 2013 EU finance ministers negotiated an agreement aimed at establishing a banking union, with further talks between the European Parliament and the Member States ending in an agreement last week. Iain Begg provides a detailed overview of the main objectives of banking …Read More

Understanding the Confidence Fairy

Smith, Y. (2014) “Understanding the Confidence Fairy“, MacroBusiness, 1 Απριλίου.   One strange claim in the economic debate that followed the financial crisis was the impact of uncertainty on the path of investment and subsequently the recovery in economic activity. Taking just one example, it was claimed here that “fiscal policy uncertainty has directly harmed the American economy by increasing the unemployment rate by 0.6%, or the equivalent of 900,000 …Read More

Kapital for the Twenty-First Century?

Piketty, T. (2014) “Kapital for the Twenty-First Century?“, Belknap Press, 2014, 671 pp.   What is “capital”? To Karl Marx, it was a social, political, and legal category—the means of control of the means of production by the dominant class. Capital could be money, it could be machines; it could be fixed and it could be variable. But the essence of capital was neither physical nor financial. It was the …Read More