Weeks, J., (2013), “The Faux European Recovery and Youth Unemployment”, Social Europe Journal, 03 December. Suddenly the media is a buzz with the prospect of a recovery in the euro zone. After four grim years of contracting GDP, unemployment and falling real wages, we read that country after country has turned the corner. Austerity worked and now we can reap the benefits. Before we become too overjoyed, it is worth …Read More
Micossi, S., Bruzzone, G. and Carmassi, J., (2013), “The New European Framework for Managing Bank Crises”, The Centre for European Policy Studies, CEPS Policy Brief No.304, 21 Νοεμβρίου. This Policy Brief describes and discusses the proposals for a European Single Resolution Mechanism (SRM) for banks and for a Directive on Bank Recovery and Resolution (BRR). The authors find that the proposals are generally well designed and present a consistent approach, …Read More
Pisani-Ferry, J., (2013), “Europe’s real inflation problem”, Project Syndicate, 30 Νοεμβρίου. “Having said that deflation in the United States is highly unlikely,” outgoing Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke famously remarked in 2002, “I would be imprudent to rule out the possibility altogether.” At that time, annual inflation in the US exceeded 2%, and the risk of it becoming negative was indeed remote; but Bernanke nonetheless felt it necessary to map …Read More
Bernstein, J., (2013), “Paths to full employment”, The New York Times, Economix Blog, 02 Δεκεμβρίου. Economists like me, who stress the importance of full employment, have a bad habit. We go on and on about the problem of slack labor markets – their negative impact on the living standards of middle- and lower-income families, their persistence in recent decades – and then we stop without saying what might be done …Read More
Springford, J. and Tilford, S., (2013), “Why Germany’s trade surplus is bad for the eurozone”, Centre for European Reform Bulletin, Issue 93, December 2013/ January 2014. In late October, the US singled out Germany as a threat to the global economy. The Treasury issued a report saying that Germany’s current account surplus – now around 7 per cent of GDP – imposes “a deflationary bias for the eurozone as well …Read More
Wolf, G., (2013), “Europe rightly pursues the road to a single resolution mechanism”, Bruegel, 27 Νοεμβρίου. European leaders continue to negotiate the most desirable structure of a single resolution mechanism. Making significant progress on that front is of central importance, as we have argued in a recent piece to the informal ECOFIN. The single most important reason why it is important relates to the reshaping of Europe’s financial system. Since …Read More
Ευσταθόπουλος, Σ., (2013), “Το νέο παραγωγικό πρότυπο που πρέπει να έχει η Ελλάδα”, Foreign Affairs, The Hellenic Edition, 28 Νοεμβρίου. Η βιομηχανία στο σύνολό της, βιώνει τα τελευταία χρόνια σημαντικές αλλαγές, με νέες τεχνικές παραγωγής που βασίζονται στις ψηφιακές τεχνολογίες, στα προηγμένα υλικά, στη ρομποτική, στις Ανανεώσιμες Πηγές Ενέργειας, στην ανακύκλωση και στην επαναχρησιμοποίηση των πρώτων υλών. Όλες αυτές οι εξελίξεις επηρεάζουν πολλούς τομείς, όπως η μεταποίηση, η ενέργεια, οι …Read More
Katsikas, D., (2013), “Brain drain, a new challenge for the Eurozone”, EurActiv, Opinion Article, 25 Νοεμβρίου. Only a genuine growth agenda can nurture labour mobility, a pre-requisite for the efficient operation of the eurozone and ultimately, for the vision of a conflict-free Europe. Without such agenda mobility could become one of the principal factors of the eurozone’s disintegration, writes Dimitris Katsikas. “As the crisis persists, news of increasing movement of …Read More
Nordvig, J., (2013), “Currency wars and the euro”, VoxEU, 25 Νοεμβρίου. Having promised to do ‘whatever it takes’ to ensure the survival of the euro, the ECB now faces the problem of record high unemployment combined with a strong currency. There is accumulating evidence that the ECB is more willing to fight currency appreciation than the Bundesbank would have been. Capital inflows have been a key source of recent upward …Read More
Bützer, S., Jordan, C. and Stracca, L., (2013), “Global and Eurozone imbalances: A question of civic capital?”, VoxEU, 23 Νοεμβρίου. Since the advent of the Eurozone sovereign-debt crisis, economic commentators have drawn attention to macroeconomic imbalances within the Eurozone. This column presents evidence on the link between macroeconomic imbalances and differences in culture – or more specifically, interpersonal trust. A conservative estimatation suggests that a one standard-deviation increase in trust …Read More
