OECD, (2017), “Zombie firms and weak productivity: what role for policy?”, 6 Δεκεμβρίου Weak productivity growth is a major problem afflicting most  societies. It curbs growth in incomes and endangers the sustainability of social security systems. An important, but often ignored, source of the productivity slowdown is the increasing prevalence of weakly productive firms and, among them, “zombie firms” – in essence  firms  that would typically exit or be forced …Read More

Leonid Bershidsky, (2017), “The Window for EU Reform Has Closed for Now”, BloombergView, 7  Δεκεμβρίου Just a couple of months ago, Europhile Emmanuel Macron was settling in as French president and Angela Merkel was victorious from a German election. It looked like Europe had a rare window of opportunity for closer integration. Now the window appears to have shut, with European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker mounting a solo effort to crack …Read More

OECD, (2017), “Pensions at a Glance: OECD and G20 Indicators”, OECD Publishing, Paris The 2017 edition of Pensions at a Glance highlights the pension reforms undertaken by OECD countries over the last two years. Moreover, one special chapter focuses on flexible retirement options in OECD countries and discusses people’s preferences regarding flexible retirement. Σχετικές Αναρτήσεις Salzano, Giovanni, (2017), «Greece Leads Euro Area in Share Spent on Old-Age Pensions: Chart», Bloomberg …Read More

Ragnar Hjalmarsson, Iosif Kovras, (2017), “Should we prosecute political leaders after a crisis? Lessons from Iceland”, EUROPP LSE, 6 Δεκεμβρίου Prosecuting politicians has become popular in the aftermath of the recent global financial crisis. It has mobilised such diverse groups as the Occupy movement and the Indignados in Southern Europe and inspired Trump’s supporters to ask for Hillary Clinton to be ‘locked up’. Σχετικές Αναρτήσεις Moury, Catherine, Standring, Adam, (2017), «How Portugal’s leaders …Read More

Peter Müller, Christian Reiermann, (2017), “Juncker Seeks Greater Commission Control over Eurozone”, Spiegel Online, 5 Δεκεμβρίου Jean-Claude Juncker never lets others outshine him if he spots an opportunity to give the European project a boost. And that goes for friends and enemies alike.Indeed, the European Commission president has now come up with a project that not only transgressions the mandate given him by the leaders of the European Union member states, …Read More

Joseph E. Stiglitz, (2017), “The Globalization of Our Discontent”, Project Syndicate, 5 Δεκεμβρίου Globalization, which was supposed to benefit developed and developing countries alike, is now reviled almost everywhere, as the political backlash in Europe and the US in recent years has shown. The challenge is to minimize the risk that the backlash will intensify, and that starts by understanding – and avoiding – past mistakes. Σχετικές Αναρτήσεις Skidelsky, Robert, …Read More

European Commission, (2017), “Commission sets out roadmap for deepening Europe’s Economic and Monetary Union”, 6 Δεκεμβρίου Building on the vision set out in the Five Presidents’ Report of June 2015 and the Reflection Papers on the Deepening of the Economic and Monetary Union and the Future of EU Finances of spring 2017, the European Commission is setting out a roadmap for deepening the Economic and Monetary Union (EMU), including concrete …Read More

Guntram B. Wolff, 2017), “The European Commission should drop its ill-designed idea of a finance minister”, Bruegel, 4 Δεκεμβρίου European Commission president Jean Claude Juncker has announced the creation of a European finance minister position. In his vision, outlined by his “state of the union” address in September, the role would unite the position of Commission vice president, chair of the Eurogroup and head of the euro-area portion of the …Read More

Ferdinando Giugliano, (2017), “Europe’s Central Bank Is Right to Get Tough on Bad Loans”, BloombergView, 6 Δεκεμβρίου A power struggle has set three of Europe’s most important institutions against each other. The European Central Bank, the European Parliament and the European Council are fighting over how banks should treat bad loans. The ECB has taken the toughest stance, but also the most appropriate one to the problem. If politicians want to …Read More