Bloomberg (Editorial Board), (2018), “Europe’s Budget Rules Need Smart Enforcement”, Bloomberg, 31 Οκτωβρίου
As it does each year, the European Commission is digging into the budgets of euro-zone member states to see if they comply with the bloc’s fiscal rules. The recent slowing of the European economy complicates this work — or ought to. It suggests that Brussels should not be overly strict. The commission needs to sanction serious violations, but it can afford to be lenient with borderline cases.
The commission ought to maintain the credibility of its fiscal rules by punishing serious violations. But cracking down on unimportant deviations, especially if the European economy turns out to be decelerating, would be bad economics and worse politics. If the rules are to command support, they need to be enforced — judiciously.
Σχετικές Αναρτήσεις
- Blanchard O., Zettelmeyer J, (2018), «The Italian Budget: A Case of Contractionary Fiscal Expansion?», Peterson Institute for International Economics, 25 Οκτωβρίου
- A. Terzi, (2018), «The great fiscal lever: An Italian economic obsession», 21 Αυγούστου