Gilbert, M. (2014) “ECB Gets a Small Win“, Bloomberg View, 10 Οκτωβρίου. The European Central Bank has been justifiably criticized for its claim that the magic of asset-backed bonds can reverse Europe’s slump back into recession. It got some support, though, from an unlikely source this week — the market for car loans in Finland. By the end of the year, Spain’s Banco Santander plans to bundle together a …Read More
Real-World Economics Review, Special issue on Piketty’s Capital
World Economics Association (WEA) Real-World Economics Review, Issue no. 69, 07 October 2014 Special Issue on Piketty’s Capital. Economists and other social scientists tend to study “problems”. Issues not studied tend to be seen as “natural”. “Poverty” and the “poor” are problems, the subject of a vast social science literature. Inequality, income concentration, the behaviour and influence of the super-rich tend to be treated as part of the natural …Read More
Greece’s shadow economy: The treasures of darkness
“Greece’s shadow economy: The treasures of darkness“, The Economist, 10 Οκτωβρίου. Getting Greeks to pay more tax is not just hard, but risky TWO out of three Greek workers either understate their earnings or fail to disclose them to the taxman altogether, according to Stephen Hall, an adviser to the Bank of Greece. Last year an estimated 24% of all economic activity in Greece went undeclared to evade tax …Read More
Europe’s sea of death for migrants is a result of war and escalating inequality
Seumas Milne, “Europe’s sea of death for migrants is a result of war and escalating inequality“, The Guardian, Thursday 9 October 2014. The carnage on our borders will only grow without a radical shift from an iniquitous and failed system The Mediterranean has become Europe’s sea of death. More than 3,000 refugees and migrants have already been killed this year trying to escape war and poverty in Africa and …Read More
Pragmatism is beginning to trump ideology in Europe’s ‘public-private’ debate over healthcare
Saltman, R. (2014) “Pragmatism is beginning to trump ideology in Europe’s ‘public-private’ debate over healthcare“, LSE EUROPP, 09 Οκτωβρίου. The merits of public vs private healthcare have traditionally formed one of the key ideological divisions between European political parties. Richard B. Saltman writes that while this debate has often been exceptionally heated, over the last few decades a number of European countries have started to take a more pragmatic …Read More
Monthly CFM Survey: Secular Stagnation
Monthly CFM Survey: Secular Stagnation, Centre for Macroeconomic Survey, 03 Οκτωβρίου 2014. This month’s questions concern the revival of interest in the idea of secular stagnation. The survey was conducted in the last week of September. A full list of written responses from our panel of experts can be found here. Only 24% (27% if we weigh by confidence) of respondents think that the Western economies have entered a …Read More
The ECB’s Faulty Weapon
Gros, D. (2014) “The ECB’s Faulty Weapon“, Project Syndicate, 07 Οκτωβρίου. With inflation in the eurozone stubbornly remaining on a downward trajectory, pressure on the European Central Bank to do “something” to prevent outright deflation is growing. This “something” is usually understood to be massive asset purchases, or quantitative easing (QE). But would QE actually do the trick? The discussion has so far followed easily predictable national patterns: Creditor …Read More
Germany’s Bad Numbers Are Great News For All Of Us
Ilargi Meijer, R. (2014) “Germany’s Bad Numbers Are Great News For All Of Us“, The Automatic Earth Blog, 07 Οκτωβρίου. Something’s happening in Europe that I would like to cheer and encourage at the top of my lungs. While only yesterday, most European leaders, the ECB and the IMF were busy chiding Germany for not lowering taxes or increasing government investment in its economy, today’s release of German economic …Read More
Busts hurt more than booms help: New lessons for growth policy from global wellbeing surveys
De Neve, J. E. & Norton, M. (2014) “Busts hurt more than booms help: New lessons for growth policy from global wellbeing surveys“, VoxEU Organisation, 08 Οκτωβρίου. Wellbeing measures allow us to distinguish higher incomes from higher happiness. This column looks at new welfare measures and macroeconomic fluctuations. It presents evidence that the life satisfaction of individuals is between two and eight times more sensitive to negative economic growth …Read More
The myopia of neo-liberalism and the IMF is now evident to all
Mitchell, B. (2014) “The myopia of neo-liberalism and the IMF is now evident to all“, Mainly Macro Blog, 08 Οκτωβρίου. The IMF published its October – World Economic Outlook – yesterday (October 7, 2014) and the news isn’t good. And remember this is the IMF, which is prone to overestimating growth, especially in times of fiscal austerity. What we are now seeing in these publications is recognition that economies …Read More