Zingales, Luigi, (2013), “German Banks on Top”, www.project-syndicate.org, 18 Ιουλίου. Overcoming the European Union’s current economic malaise, as almost everyone acknowledges, requires deeper integration, with the first step taking the form of a banking union supervised by the European Central Bank. But Europe’s banking union also requires uniform rules for winding up insolvent financial institutions – and this has become a sticking point.
The Next Social Contract
Derviş, Kemal, (2013), “The Next Social Contract”, www.project-syndicate.org, 18 Ιουλίου. Around the world nowadays, persistent unemployment, skill mismatches, and retirement frameworks have become central to fiscal policy – and to the often-fierce political debates that surround it. The advanced countries are facing an immediate “aging” problem, but most of the emerging economies are also in the midst of a demographic transition that will result in an age structure similar to …Read More
Redesigning the ECB with regional rather than national central banks
Burda, Michael, (2013), “Redesigning the ECB with regional rather than national central banks”, www.voxeu.org, 15 Ιουλίου. Eurozone national central banks that take a national perspective risk politicising the ECB’s monetary policy. This column argues that this is a significant risk that should be overcome with a fundamental overhaul of the Eurosystem. A central element would be to take the ‘national’ out of the EZ’s national central banks. Just as US …Read More
OECD Employment Outlook
OECD, (2013), Employment Outlook, Paris. Concerns are growing in many countries about the strains that persistently high levels of unemployment are placing on the social fabric. Over five years have passed since the onset of the global financial and economic crisis but an uneven and weak recovery has not generated enough jobs to make a serious dent in unemployment in many OECD countries. In April 2013, 8% of the OECD …Read More
Austerity: European democracies against the wall
Lorenzo Bini Smaghi, (2013), Austerity: European democracies against the wall, CEPS. The crisis in the eurozone has had a dramatic impact on the economic and social fabric of European countries. However important it may be, the economic dimension is only the symptom of a broader problem. The crisis is primarily political in nature. Lorenzo Bini Smaghi argues in this book that the crisis reflects the inability of western democracies to …Read More
IMF, (2013), World Economic Outlook-Update, July.
IMF, (2013), World Economic Outlook-Update, July. Global growth is projected to remain subdued at slightly above 3 percent in 2013, the same as in 2012. This is less than forecast in the April 2013 World Economic Outlook (WEO), driven to a large extent by appreciably weaker domestic demand and slower growth in several key emerging market economies, as well as a more protracted recession in the euro area. Downside risks …Read More
Redesigning the ECB with regional rather than national central banks
Burda, Michael, (2013), “Redesigning the ECB with regional rather than national central banks”, www.voxeu.com, 15 Ιουλίου. Eurozone national central banks that take a national perspective risk politicising the ECB’s monetary policy. This column argues that this is a significant risk that should be overcome with a fundamental overhaul of the Eurosystem. A central element would be to take the ‘national’ out of the EZ’s national central banks. Just as US regional …Read More
The International Role of the Euro
European Central Bank, (2013), “The International Role of the Euro”, Frankfurt. This is the 12th annual review of the international role of the euro published by the ECB. It presents the main findings of the continued monitoring and analysis conducted by the ECB and the Eurosystem as regards the development, determinants and implications of the use of the euro by non-euro area residents. This review also examines in greater depth …Read More
Europe’s Zombie Banks
Gros, Daniel, (2013), “Europe’s Zombie Banks”, www.project-syndicate.org, 10 Ιουλίου. What is wrong with Europe’s banks? The short answer is that the sector is too large, has too little capital, and contains too many players that lack a viable long-term business model. It is the combination of the last two factors – an overabundance of banks with no sustainable way to turn a profit – that constitutes the most serious and …Read More
The popular legitimacy of European healthcare systems: A multilevel analysis of 24 countries
Missinne, Sarah, Meuleman, Bart, Bracke, Piet, (2013), “The popular legitimacy of European healthcare systems: A multilevel analysis of 24 countries”, Journal of European Social Policy, Vol. 23, Issue 3, July 2013, p.p, 231-247 This paper provides an empirical study of the between-individual and between-country differences in the popular legitimacy of European healthcare systems. In order to explain two dimensions of popular legitimacy (satisfaction and support for state responsibility), we assess …Read More