Pappadà, Fr., Zylberberg, Y., (2014), “Tax evasion and austerity-plan failure”, www.voxeu.org, 3 Φεβρουαρίου. Greece’s austerity package included an unprecedented increase in the VAT rate, but the resulting increase in revenue was much lower than expected. This column links this disappointing result to the ‘transparency response’ of firms to higher tax rates. In countries like Greece with poor tax monitoring, firms face a tradeoff when deciding whether to declare their activity. …Read More
Cut the Spending, Spare the Poor
Pisani-Ferry, J., (2014), “Cut the Spending, Spare the Poor”, www.project-syndicate.org, 30 Ιανουαρίου. Why do some governments spend more than others? The question is more complicated than it appears, especially in the case of European governments. The answer may look obvious when comparing, say, Denmark (where public spending, excluding interest payments on debt, amounted to 58% of GDP in 2012) and the United States (where the same number was 35%). Extensive …Read More
Overcoming the crisis in Cyprus
Hardouvelis, Gikas (2014), “Overcoming the crisis in Cyprus”, Economy & Markets, Vol. IX, Issue 1. Following the March 2013 bail-in of large bank depositors and the subsequent crisis, Cyprus faces major challenges and risks during 2014 and 2015. The first challenge is to ensure financial stability and lift all capital control restrictions. Another challenge is to move fast with structural reforms, gain credibility in fiscal policy and ensure the recession ends …Read More
Η Ελληνική Οικονομία 4/2013
IOBE, (2014), Η Ελληνική Οικονομία 4/2013, Αθήνα: Ίδρυμα Οικονομικών και Βιομηχανικών Ερευνών. Όλα τα διαθέσιμα δεδομένα καταδεικνύουν πως το 2013 ήταν ένα έτος καμπής, κατά το οποίο σταδιακά η Ελληνική οικονομία πλησίασε σε σημείο σταθεροποίησης δημιουργώντας έτσι τις προϋποθέσεις για λήξη της παρατεταμένης ύφεσης κατά το επόμενο έτος. Κύρια χαρακτηριστικά αποτελούν η συνεχιζόμενη τάση αποκατάστασης της ισορροπίας στα «δίδυμα ελλείμματα», το δημοσιονομικό έλλειμμα και αυτό του εξωτερικού ισοζυγίου, όπως και …Read More
Banking Union and Beyond: Discussion papers for Brussels Think Tank Dialogue
Merter, S. (2014), “Banking Union and Beyond: Discussion papers for Brussels Think Tank Dialogue”, Bruegel, 28 Ιανουαρίου. Three years have passed since the euro crisis broke out in 2010, revealing the shortcomings of the EMU architecture as it was foreseen in Maastricht. A number of reforms have been undertaken since 2010 in order to strengthen the Monetary Union, make it more adept to face the challenges of the financial integration …Read More
Τριμηνιαία Έκθεση: Οκτώβρης-Δεκέμβριος 2013
Γραφείο Προϋπολογισμού του Κράτους στη Βουλή, (2014), «Τριμηνιαία Έκθεση: Οκτώβρης-Δεκέμβριος 2013»,28 Ιανουαρίου. Στο τέλος του 2013 η ελληνική οικονομία βρίσκεται σε ένα «κρίσιμο σημείο». Έχει καταφέρει να μειώσει το σύνολο των ελλειμμάτων σε επίπεδα που είναι αισθητά καλύτερα ως προς αυτά που καταγράφονταν κατά την προ κρίσης περίοδο. Μείωσε το έλλειμμα της Γενικής κυβέρνησης (ως ποσοστό του ΑΕΠ) κατά 11 περίπου ποσοστιαίες μονάδες σε σχέση με το 2009 (από 15,7% …Read More
PADRE: Politically Acceptable Debt Restructuring in the Eurozone
Pâris, P. and Wyplosz, Ch., (2014) “PADRE: Politically Acceptable Debt Restructuring in the Eurozone”, 28 Ιανουαρίου. The average public debt level of Eurozone countries now stands at 95.5% of GDP, and it is much higher in a number of countries. There is a lively debate about whether public debts can be too big and, if so, what the threshold is. At the very least, large public indebtedness is unhelpful, and …Read More
Jobs and Growth: Supporting the European Recovery
Lagarde, Ch.,(2014), “Jobs and Growth: Supporting the European Recovery”, iMF Direct, 28 Ιανουαρίου. As we begin the new year, Europe confronts both good and bad news. First the good news. Growth is finally picking up in the euro area as it is slowly emerging from the deep recession. The bad news? Still nearly 20 million people are unemployed. Until the effects on employment have been reversed, we cannot say that …Read More
Is the world recovery really strengthening?
Blanchard, Ο., (2014), “Is the world recovery really strengthening?”, 27 Ιανουαρίου 2014. The global economy seems to be on the mend. In this column, IMF Chief Economist Olivier Blanchard provides a quick overview of the likely developments. The key points are that the recovery is happening as expected, but it remains fragile and uneven across major economies. Normalising monetary policy poses risks for vulnerable emerging markets and deflation is a …Read More
Squaring the Eurozone’s Vicious Circle
Reichlin, L. and Garican, L., (2014), “Squaring the Eurozone’s Vicious Circle”, Project Syndicate, 27 Ιανουαρίου. The eurozone is caught in a diabolical loop, in which weak banking systems harm their sovereigns’ fiscal positions, which in turn compromise the banking system’s stability. But, over the last couple of years, policymakers have focused largely on reducing banks’ impact on their sovereigns – for example, through a Europe-wide supervisory authority and efforts to …Read More