Hasan, If. And Takalo, T., (2014), “Efficient retail payments: An untapped source for reviving growth in Europe?”, 24 Ιανουαρίου. Efficient retail payments are associated not only with lower direct costs but also with indirect benefits, and ultimately – with enhanced economic growth. This column presents research on different retail payment habits in the Eurozone. A correlation exists between the forms of payment in a country and its recent economic fortune. …Read More

Barysch, K., (2014), “Europe’s Top-Down Myopia”, Project Syndicate, 22 Ιανουαρίου. The EU is undergoing fundamental changes, many of which have gone largely unnoticed, owing to the overwhelming focus on large-scale top-down reforms. Officials seem not to recognize change unless it takes the form of Eurobonds, new European treaties, or policy reversals by German Chancellor Angela Merkel. But the case for small steps guided by market mechanisms is strong. Europe’s obsession with …Read More

Baily, M. & Sjåtil, P., (2014), “A New Model for New Europe”, Project Syndicate, 17 Ιανουαρίου Five years ago, Central and Eastern Europe was home to one of the world’s most impressive growth stories. Annual GDP growth was close to 5%, just behind China and India. Foreign direct investment poured into Bulgaria, Croatia, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, Romania, Slovakia, and Slovenia at a rate of more than $40 billion …Read More

Wren-Lewis, S., (2014), “How the ECB could be Radical by being Old Fashioned”, Social Europe Journal, 20 Ιανουαρίου. Forward commitment could be sold not as a radical new policy, but a return to a very old one: money targeting. The one major central bank that did maintain a money targeting policy for more than a few years was the Bundesbank. Why is money targeting like a forward commitment policy? Because …Read More

Acharya V., and Steffen S., (2014), “Falling short of expectations? Stress-testing the European banking system”, Voxeu, 17 Ιανουαρίου. The Single Supervisory Mechanism – a key pillar of the Eurozone banking union – will transfer supervision of Europe’s largest banks to the ECB. Before taking over this role, the ECB will conduct an Asset Quality Review to identify these banks’ capital shortfalls. This column discusses recent estimates of these shortfalls based …Read More

Arestis Ph., and M. Sawyer, (2014), “‘Structural Reforms’ and Unemployment”, Triple Crisis, 16 Ιανουαρίου. There is little doubt that the “fiscal compact,” which has replaced the Stability and Growth Pact of the Economic and Monetary Union, reinforces an already-established neoliberal perspective on macroeconomic policy—with the emphasis on balanced budgets and an “independent” central bank only concerned with price stability. There is little doubt that the “fiscal compact,” which has replaced …Read More

Perotti, Enr., (2014), “The roots of shadow banking” , Voxeu, 16 Ιανουαρίου. The ‘shadow banking’ sector is a loose title given to the financial sector that exists outside the regulatory perimeter but mimics some structures and functions of banks. Σχετικές Αναρτήσεις Pozsar, Z., (2013), “Shadow banking and the global financial ecosystem” , VoxEU, 07 Νοεμβρίου. Gros, D., (2013), “The European Banking Disunion”, Project Syndicate, 06 Νοεμβρίου. Den Haan, W. ed., (2013), Forward Guidance: Perspectives …Read More