European Central Bank (2014) Monthly Bulletin: September, ECB–Eurosystem, Σεπτέμβριος. Based on its regular economic and monetary analyses, the Governing Council decided at its meeting on 4 September 2014 to lower the interest rate on the main refinancing operations of the Eurosystem by 10 basis points to 0.05% and the rate on the marginal lending facility by 10 basis points to 0.30%. The rate on the deposit facility was lowered …Read More
Wyplosz, C. (2014) “Is the ECB doing QE?“, VoxEU Organisation, 12 Σεπτεμβρίου. Last week, the ECB announced that it would begin purchasing securities backed by bank lending to households and firms. Whereas markets and the media have generally greeted this announcement with enthusiasm, this column identifies reasons for caution. Other central banks’ quantitative easing programmes have involved purchasing fixed amounts of securities according to a published schedule. In contrast, …Read More
Xifré, R. (2014) “No miracles in southern Eurozone without resource reallocation“, VoxEU Organisation, 12 Σεπτεμβρίου. As the most acute phase of the Eurozone crisis is over, the current-account balances of France, Italy, and Spain have improved. This column warns against complacency about this improvement, pointing at some structural factors that impede growth and damage competitiveness. Resources should be relocated towards the tradeable sectors and to those firms most prepared …Read More
European Commission (2014) European Competitiveness Report 2014, Commission Staff Working Document SWD(2014)6319 final, Σεπτέμβριος. The European Competitiveness Report, published annually since 1997, gives a quantitative assessment of the competitive performance of EU industries. It contributes to evidence-based policy-making by looking at knowledge gaps in industrial policy. Therefore it supports microeconomic decision-making at EU and national levels. The Report uses empirical research to examine EU competitiveness, working across the whole …Read More
Fuest, C., Heinemann, F. & Schröder, C. (2014) “A Viable Insolvency Procedure for Sovereigns (VIPS) in the Euro Area“, Centre for European Economic Research (ZEW), Discussion Paper No. 14, Αύγουστος. The euro area debt crisis has revealed serious flaws in the institutional setup of the European Monetary Union (EMU) as it had been designed in the late 1990s (Buti and Carnot, 2012; Hodson, 2013). Although the establishment of a …Read More
Legrain, P. (2014) “How to Finish the Euro House“, Centre for European Reform (CER), Ιούνιος. The euro is a half-built house whose foundations have been weakened by successive policy mistakes. Battered by a financial hurricane, it has been patched up, altered and extended repeatedly in recent years. Even so, it became so dangerously unstable that it came to the brink of collapse. Finally, in the summer of 2012 the …Read More
Chatzistavrou, F. & Michalaki, S. (2014) “Reshaping politics of the left and centre in Greece after the 2014 EP election“, Politics and Institutions, EPIN Commentaries, 10 Σεπτεμβρίου. The political landscape in Greece is confused and volatile at the moment; the right and extreme- right-wing parties are accorded a disproportionately large place in political debate, while the radical left-wing SYRIZA party is attempting to maintain a ‘leftist’ profile and demonstrate …Read More
Ritholz, B. (2014) “How Europe’s Stimulus Sausage Is Made: Ritholtz Chart“, Bloomberg View, 09 Σεπτεμβρίου. The European Central Bank announced its latest — and belated — program of quantitative easing last week. The ECB made fresh commitments to buy a series of asset-backed securities (ABS), various bonds and expanded its previously announced Long-Term Refinancing Operations (LTROs). The ECB’s brand of quantitative easing is an incredibly complex process. I could …Read More
Miller, Μ. & Zhang, L. (2014) “To exit the Great Recession, central banks must adapt their policies and models“, VoxEU Organisation, 10 Σεπτεμβρίου. During the Great Moderation, inflation targeting with some form of Taylor rule became the norm at central banks. This column argues that the Global Crisis called for a new approach, and that the divergence in macroeconomic performance since then between the US and the UK on …Read More
Koo, R. (2014) “Fixing the Eurozone“, The European Magazine, 03 Σεπτεμβρίου. The fact that key economies are currently saving instead of borrowing shows how detached the euro zone has become from the wisdom of conventional economics. Yet there is hope. I have been warning since my first English book, Balance Sheet Recession, that if the U.S., Japan and Europe faced balance sheet recessions, Europe would have the most difficult …Read More
