German, L. (2014)”The world’s happiest nations, in one map“, Vox Media, 18 Σεπτεμβρίου. North America and South America make up the world’s happiest region, according to a new report from Gallup and Healthways. The report looked at five elements of well-being: sense of purpose, social life, finances, community, and physical health. Respondents from 135 countries self-reported their satisfaction with these elements, and Gallup and Healthway then compiled the results into their …Read More
What we Didn’t Learn from the Economic Crisis
Kurtzleben, D. (2014) “What we Didn’t Learn from the Economic Crisis“, Vox Media, 12 Σεπτεμβρίου. In the years since the financial crisis, countries have struggled to remove the causes of the most recent financial crisis. Thus far, they have failed. That’s the view of Martin Wolf, associate editor and chief economics commentator at the Financial Times. In his new book, The Shifts and the Shocks, Wolf examines what we’ve learned …Read More
The Euro Trap. On Bursting Bubbles, Budgets, and Beliefs
Sinn, H.-W. (2014) The Euro Trap. On Bursting Bubbles, Budgets, and Beliefs, Oxford University Press 2014. This book offers a critical assessment of the history of the euro, its crisis, and the rescue measures taken by the European Central Bank and the community of states. The euro induced huge capital flows from the northern to the southern countries of the Eurozone that triggered an inflationary credit bubble in the …Read More
Deep roots or current policies – what drives sustained prosperity differences across locations?
Delgado, M., Ketels, C., Porter, M. & Stern, S. (2014) “Deep roots or current policies – what drives sustained prosperity differences across locations?“, VoxEU Organisation, 18 Σεπτεμβρίου. There is a consensus among economists that ‘deep roots’ – geography, natural endowments, and institutions – are important determinants of prosperity differences across countries. This column argues that deep roots matter, but they are neither the whole story nor an excuse for …Read More
Stop Structural Reforms and Start Public Investment in Europe
De Grauwe, P. (2014) “Stop Structural Reforms and Start Public Investment in Europe“, Social Europe Journal, 17 Σεπτεμβρίου. Slow growth in the Eurozone has become endemic since the start of the sovereign debt crisis in 2010. This is made very clear in Figure 1, which contrasts the growth experience of the Eurozone with the non-Eurozone EU-member countries since the start of the financial crisis in 2007. What is striking …Read More
Toil and Trouble in the United Kingdom: Why Scotland Won’t Be Europe’s Last Region to Seek Independence
Hill, F. & Shapiro, J. (2014) “Toil and Trouble in the United Kingdom: Why Scotland Won’t Be Europe’s Last Region to Seek Independence“, Brookings Think Tank, 16 Σεπτεμβρίου. On September 18, the people of Scotland will decide whether they wish to remain in the United Kingdom. As the referendum approaches, public attention has focused mostly on the implications of the vote for the future of Scotland and the United …Read More
Researchers’ Report 2014
European Commission (2014) Researchers’ Report 2014, DG Research and Innovation, Deloitte, Σεπτέμβριος. The conditions for the completion of the European Research Area, as requested by the European Council (Member States are adopting the necessary reforms, research stakeholders are implementing the ERA actions, the Commission increased its support to ERA through Horizon 2020 and the monitoring mechanism has been agreed and established) are now in place. The ERA Progress report …Read More
The European School-to-work Transition and the Crisis
Giuliani, L. & Pastore, F. (2014) “The European School-to-work Transition and the Crisis“, Social Europe Journal, 16 Σεπτεμβρίου. The school-to-work transition is a long, dark tunnel for many young people around the world. However, the problem is not the same everywhere; in Germany, for example, young people have almost the same probability of working as adults, while in the Eastern and Mediterranean EU countries the employment chances of young …Read More
Entry and Exit in OTC Derivatives Markets
Atkeson, Α., Eisfeldt, Α. & Weill, P. O. (2014) “Entry and Exit in OTC Derivatives Markets“, VoxEU Organisation, 17 Σεπτεμβρίου. Entry and trading in over-the-counter (OTC) derivatives markets have received considerable attention. However, many critical questions remain unaddressed. This column describes a formal study of banks’ incentives to enter and trade in OTC derivatives markets. In equilibrium, only large banks enter to become dealers, and middle-sized banks only enter …Read More
Shadow banking and the economy
Moreira, A. & Savov, A. (2014) “Shadow banking and the economy“, VoxEU Organisation, 16 Σεπτεμβρίου. The prevailing view of shadow banking is that it is all about regulatory arbitrage – evading capital requirements and exploiting ‘too big to fail’. This column focuses instead on the tradeoff between economic growth and financial stability. Shadow banking transforms risky, illiquid assets into securities that are – in good times, at least – …Read More