Jean S., Martin P., Sapir A., “International trade under attack: what strategy for Europe?”, Bruegel, 28 Αυγούστου The multilateral trading system is seriously threatened by the country which has been its main inspirer, the United States. The US position is focused on bilateral trade imbalances presumably resulting from unbalanced trade policies, but it is flawed. Not only does it make little sense given the existence of global value chains, but …Read More
Eurostat/Eurostatistics- DATA FOR SHORT-TERM ECONOMIC ANALYSIS/Αύγουστος 2018 International context: GDP growth accelerated in the US in Q2 2018. According to the advance estimate released by the Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA), the annual GDP growth rate of the US rose substantially to 4.1% in Q2 2018 from 2.2% in Q1. The acceleration of growth in Q2 2018 was due to increases in personal consumption expenditure, exports, federal government expenditure, and …Read More
Abdih Y., Lin L., Paret A-C., (2018), “Understanding Euro Area Inflation Dynamics: Why So Low for So Long?”, Working Paper No. 18/188, IMF, 22 Αυγούστου Despite closing output gaps and tightening labor markets, inflation has remained low in the euro area. Based on an augmented Phillips Curve framework, we find that this phenomenon—sometimes attributed to low global inflation—has been primarily caused by a remarkable persistence of inflation, keeping it low …Read More
Darvas, Z., Moes, N., Myachenkova, Y., & Pichler, D., (2018), “The macroeconomic implications of healthcare”, Bruegel, 23 Αυγούστου Health-care systems play a crucial role in supporting human health. They also have major macroeconomic implications, an aspect that is not always properly acknowledged. Countries spend very different amounts on healthcare, with spending in North America (Canada and the United States) more than twice as much per capita as in the European …Read More
J. Pisani-Ferry, J. Zettelmeyer, (2018), “Could the 7+7 report’s proposals destabilise the euro? A response to Guido Tabellini”, 20 Αυγούστου In the opening contribution to the VoxEU debate on euro area reform, we and twelve other French and German economists proposed a package of reforms aimed at increasing the stability of the euro area (Bénassy-Quéré et al. 2018). These pursue three objectives: The first is to eliminate the ‘doom loop’ …Read More
A. Terzi, (2018), “The great fiscal lever: An Italian economic obsession”, 21 Αυγούστου “Give me a fulcrum and a lever long enough, and I shall move the world” – so the great Greek mathematician Archimedes used to say. In the Italian macroeconomic context, many are similarly convinced that if only we pushed more on the fiscal lever, we could set in motion an economy that has stagnated for almost 20 …Read More
Bini-Smaghi L., M. Marcussen, (2018), “Delivering a safe asset for the euro area: A proposal for a Purple bond transition”, Vox EU, 20 Ιουλίου Eurobonds are today politically unfeasible… Genuine Eurobonds with joint and several liability would bring significant benefits and stability to the euro area. Top of this list is credibility, further cementing that the euro is here to stay. Such an instrument would also price counter-cyclically as investors …Read More
Macchiarelli, C. & Monti, M., (2018), “The EMU quest for integration: What does the ECB’s collateral data tell us?”, LSE EUROPP, Ιούλιος Quantitative easing (QE) has been the monetary policy innovation tool of the 21st century. With the global economic recovery now seemingly robust, the challenge facing policymakers is how to reverse this exceptional monetary policy stimulus. The Fed has already started, whereas the ECB recently announced that its quantitative …Read More
ECB (2018), “Monetary policy and household inequality”, working paper series no. 2170, Ιούλιος The impact of monetary policy, and specifically quantitative easing, on inequality has recently come to public attention. For example, commentators have pointed out that a prolonged reduction in policy interest rates can generate an income loss for savers holding interest-bearing assets, or that expansionary measures supporting financial asset prices are especially beneficial for the savers holding those …Read More
Μ. Μητσος, (2018), “Πώς Η Εξωστρέφεια Έσωσε Την Πορτογαλία”, Διανέοσις, Ιούλιος Η σύγχρονη περιπέτεια της Πορτογαλίας ξεκίνησε τον Μάιο του 2011 με την είσοδό της στο μνημόνιο. Το υπέγραψαν τόσο οι Σοσιαλιστές, που αποχωρούσαν από την εξουσία, όσο και οι Σοσιαλδημοκράτες (αυτό είναι το όνομα του κόμματος, το οποίο είναι όμως κεντροδεξιό), που αναλάμβαναν τα ηνία μαζί με το συντηρητικό CDS. Τα βασικά προβλήματα της πορτογαλικής οικονομίας ήταν η απώλεια …Read More
