S. Tavlas, George,(2016), “New perspectives on the Great Depression: a review essay”, Bank of Greece, 16 Σεπτεμβρίου The Great Depression was the most devastating and destructive economic event to afflict the global economy since the beginning of the twentieth century. What, then, were the origins of the Great Depression and what have we learned about the appropriate policy responses to economic depressions from that episode? This essay reviews two recently …Read More
The IMF and Euro Area Crises: Review of a Report from the Independent Evaluation Office
M. Truman, Edwin, (2016), “The IMF and Euro Area Crises: Review of a Report from the Independent Evaluation Office”, Peterson Institute for International Economics, Σεπτέμβριος The economic and financial crises in euro area countries since 2010 have tested the viability of the euro area and continue to challenge the future of the seven-decade European integration project. Euro area leaders reluctantly brought the International Monetary Fund (IMF) into the management of six …Read More
An inflation-predicting measure of the output gap in the euro area
Jarociński, Marek, Lenza, Michele, (2016), “An inflation-predicting measure of the output gap in the euro area”, ECB, Working Paper No 1966, Σεπτέμβριος Using a small Bayesian dynamic factor model of the euro area we estimate the deviations of output from its trend that are consistent with the behavior of inflation. We label these deviations the output gap. In order to pin-down the features of the model, we evaluate the accuracy of …Read More
Fragmented Politics and Public Debt
Crivelli, Ernesto, Gupta, Sanjeev, Mulas-Granados, Carlos, Correa-Caro, Carolina, (2016), “Fragmented Politics and Public Debt”, IMF, Working Paper No. 16/190, 19 Σεπτεμβρίου In this paper, we study the impact of fragmented politics on public debt—in particular, between two consecutive legislative elections. Using data for 92 advanced and developing countries during 1975-2015, we find a positive association between political fragmentation and public debt changes. Corruption magnifies the effects; with higher perceived corruption, political fragmentation …Read More
The IMF’s Lost Influence in the 21st Century and Its Implications
Weisbrot, Mark, (2016), “The IMF’s Lost Influence in the 21st Century and Its Implications”, Cepr Publications, 25 Ιουλίου Over the last decade and a half, an epoch-making change took place in international economic relations. This change was so big that it was probably the most important development in the international financial system since the breakdown of the Bretton Woods system of fixed exchange rates in 1973. But hardly anyone noticed it. What …Read More
Βιβλιοθήκη » EE » Οικονομία » Άρθρα Γνώμης
ESBies: Safety in the tranches
Brunnermeier, Markus K, Langfield, Sam,Pagano, Marco, Reis, Ricardo, Nieuwerburgh, Stijn Van, Vayanos, Dimitri, (2016), “ESBies: Safety in the tranches”, VoxEU, 20 Σεπτεμβρίου The Eurozone lacks a safe asset that is provided by the region as a whole. This column highlights why and how European Safe Bonds, a union-wide safe asset without joint liability, would resolve this problem, and outlines steps to put them into practice. For given sovereign default probabilities, these …Read More
Βιβλιοθήκη » EE » Οικονομία » Άρθρα Γνώμης
Bank interest rate setting in the euro area during the Great Recession
Camba-Mendez, Gonzalo, Durré, Alain, Mongelli, Francesco Paolo , (2016), “Bank interest rate setting in the euro area during the Great Recession”, ECB Working Paper Series, 16 Σεπτεμβρίου This paper sheds light on how recent financial tensions in the euro area were ultimately reflected in bank interest rate setting. We make two new contributions. First, we develop a theoretical model capturing banks financing and the rate setting choices. Banks in the model …Read More
Different lessons For Europe from American financial history–a counterpoint to Mr. Gaspar
Kincaid, G. Russell, (2016), “Different lessons For Europe from American financial history–a counterpoint to Mr. Gaspar”, Journal of European Integration, 2 Σεπτεμβρίου Sovereign debt restructuring played a key role in placing the US federal government on a sound financial footing under its new Constitution in 1789. State governments in the US, like national governments in the euro area, do not have bankruptcy protection. US state governments have not defaulted since the …Read More
Budget-related cross-border flows: EU versus US
D’Apice, Pasquale, (2016), “Budget-related cross-border flows: EU versus US”, VoxEU, 13 Σεπτεμβρίου There has been renewed interest in economic analysis of the EU budget following the Global Crisis. This column presents new calculations of cross-border flows operated through the EU budget and compares them with those estimated for the US. For each euro paid by an average net (EU member state) contributor, approximately 75 cents return through the EU budget, and …Read More
Βιβλιοθήκη » EE » Οικονομία » Άρθρα Γνώμης
The six flaws of the Eurozone
Wyplosz, Charles, (2016), “The six flaws of the Eurozone”, Economic Policy, 4 Αυγούστου When it was created, it was reasonable to think that the architecture of the monetary union was not perfect. It was also likely that the imperfections would lead to difficulties, possibly even crises. This article identifies six flaws, most of which had been identified even before the launch of the euro. It starts by pinpointing why the Eurozone, …Read More