Tilford, Simon, (2013), “European austerity: Turn or TINA?”, www.cer.org.uk, 25 Απριλίου. Will European governments reverse the austerity course that has done so much to damage their already enfeebled economies? With the revelation of mathematical errors in the work of two Harvard economists, Carmen Reinhart and Ken Rogoff – who had claimed to show that economic growth falls off a cliff once a country’s ratio of debt to GDP reaches 90 …Read More

Sinn, Hans-Werner, (2013), “Should Germany Exit the Euro?” , www.project-syndicate.org, 23 Απριλίου. Last summer, the financier George Soros urged Germany to agree to the establishment of the European Stability Mechanism, calling on the country to “lead or leave.” Now he says that Germany should exit the euro if it continues to block the introduction of Eurobonds. Soros is playing with fire. Leaving the eurozone is precisely what the newly founded …Read More

Benedikter, Roland και Kaelin, Lukas, (2013), “Ελβετικό θαύμα; Πέρα από την σοκολάτα, το τυρί και τις τράπεζες” , Foreign Affairs – The Hellenic Edition, 11 Απριλίου. Ολόκληρη η Ευρώπη φαίνεται να είναι σε οικονομική και πολιτική κρίση. Αλλά υπάρχει μια μικρή περιοχή ηρεμίας στον πυρήνα της ηπείρου: η Ελβετία. Παρά το γεγονός ότι πολλά από αυτά που κάνουν την χώρα επιτυχημένη δεν θα υιοθετούνταν από την υπόλοιπη Ευρώπη, τα τμήματα …Read More

Kirkegaard, Jacob, (2013), “Remain Calm: Europe Is Still on Track” , The Peterson Institute for International Economics, 17 Απριλίου. European short-term economic growth prospects remain weak because of rampant fiscal consolidation, private sector deleveraging, and the temporary unsettling effects of structural reforms. But European leaders continue to take important and constructive decisions on bailouts and the banking union, suggesting that recovery will eventually get on track. At least three such …Read More

De Grauwe,  Paul , Ji, Yuemei, “Are Germans really poorer than Spaniards, Italians and Greeks?”, www.voxeu.org, 16 Απριλίου. A recent ECB household-wealth survey was interpreted by the media as evidence that poor Germans shouldn’t have to pay for southern Europe. This column takes a look at the numbers. Whilst it’s true that median German households are poor compared to their southern European counterparts, Germany itself is wealthy. Importantly, this wealth …Read More

Gros, Daniel, (2013), “The Meaning of Cyprus: Moving towards banking union?” CEPS, 8  Απριλίου. While acknowledging that Cyprus is too small to matter for global financial markets, this Commentary finds that its case could turn out to become a very important precedent for the way European policy-makers deal with future banking problems and the plans for a ‘banking union’.

Dell’ Ariccia, Giovanni, Goyal, Rishi, Koeva-Brooks, Petya, Tressel, Thierry, (2013) “A banking union for the Eurozone”, www.voxeu.org , 5 Απριλίου. The crisis has highlighted the need for, and difficulties with, a Eurozone banking union. This column argues that, to make a union, you need three crucial ingredients: common supervision, a single resolution mechanism, and common safety nets. The power to control and the resources to rescue must work in parallel. …Read More

Aslund, Anders, (2013), “The Euro Crisis after Cyprus: What We Have Learned”, The Peterson Institute for International Economics, 3 Απριλίου. Just as suddenly as it arose, the Cyprus financial crisis has passed by. The banks have opened and so has the stock market without undue panic. A few steps remain in the euro crisis, but this crisis is abating, and however messily Europe has handled it. Today, the questions are what …Read More