den Haan, Wouter, Ellison, Martin, Ilzetzki, Ethan, McMahon, Michael, Reis, Ricardo, (2017), “The Eurozone: Economists respond to Juncker’s State of the Union speech”, VoxEU, 20 Σεπτεμβρίου The European Commission president’s suggestion that joining the euro should be compulsory for all EU members is not well received by over three quarters of leading economists responding to the latest Centre for Macroeconomics and CEPR survey. This column also reveals how, when asked …Read More

Duttagupta, Rupa, Fabrizio, Stefania, Saxena, Sweta, (2017), “Growth That Reaches Everyone: Facts, Factors, Tools”, IMF Blog, 20 Σεπτεμβρίου Economic growth provides the basis for overcoming poverty and lifting living standards. But for growth to be sustained and inclusive, its benefits must reach all people. While strong economic growth is necessary for economic development, it is not always sufficient. Over the past few decades, growth has raised living standards and provided …Read More

ECB, (2017), “Economic Bulletin, Issue 6”, Σεπτέμβριος At its monetary policy meeting on 7 September 2017, the Governing Council assessed that while the ongoing economic expansion provides confidence that inflation will gradually head to levels in line with its inflation aim, it has yet to translate sufficiently into stronger inflation dynamics. The economic expansion, which accelerated more than expected in the first half of 2017, continues to be solid and …Read More

Veron, Nicholas, (2017), “Europe’s fourfold union: Updating the 2012 vision”, Bruegel, 19 Σεπτεμβρίου In the past half-decade, Europe’s financial union has been significantly strengthened but remains incomplete and is challenged by Brexit. No consensus has been found on fiscal union, and the existing fiscal framework based on administrative control is problematic. Economic union has not made material progress. Political union might have advanced further than many observers realise. This four-part …Read More

Giugliano, Ferdinando, (2017), “Germany Needs Some of its Own Medicine”, Bloomberg View, 20 Σεπτεμβρίου This autumn, a newly elected European government will need to prove its reformist credentials to convince partners to press ahead with its plans for reforming the euro zone. While most will see this assertion as applying to France, it could equally refer to Germany. Angela Merkel, who is on course to win a fourth term as …Read More

ECB, (2017), “Structural reform needs in the euro area: insights from a survey of large companies”, Economic Bulletin Issue 66, Σεπτέμβριος 2017 The importance of structural reforms as a means of increasing the rate of potential growth and strengthening the resilience of the euro area economy has been repeatedly emphasised by policymakers over recent years. But, so far, there have been few attempts to gauge the opinion of the business …Read More

Bloomberg View, (2017), “What Germany Wants Isn’t What Europe Needs”, 19 Σεπτεμβρίου If polls are correct, Angela Merkel is on track to win a record fourth term as German chancellor on Sept. 24. The temptation, after such a long run of electoral success, is to keep the formula unchanged and carry on giving the voters what they want. The trouble is, what makes sense for Germany and its people isn’t quite …Read More

Corsetti, Giancarlo, Müller, Gernot, Kuester, Keith, (2017), “In a Great Recession, the case for flexible exchange rates is alive and well”, VoxEU, 16 Σεπτεμβρίου The classic rationale for flexible exchange rates was that policymakers would be unconstrained by currency targets. The Great Recession, however, saw numerous central banks constrained instead by the zero lower bound. This column considers which exchange rate regime is best for small open economies in a global …Read More