Jean Pisani-Ferry, (2018), “Euro area reform: An anatomy of the debate”, CEPR, Policy Insight No. 95, Οκτώβριος There are essentially two possible theories for this enduring state of controversy: the ‘battle of interests’ and the ‘battle of ideas’. The first posits that problems are fundamentally distributional – decisions are controversial because they pit creditors against debtors, high-debt against lowdebt states, stable against crisis-prone countries, or global banks against local banks. The second emphasises cognitive issues. According to this reading, …Read More

Matt O’Brien, (2018), “Italy’s game of chicken with Europe is getting serious again”, Washington Post, 22 Οκτωβρίου For a long time, Italy has been Europe’s hidden crisis. Now, though, it’s becoming much more open. The problem is simple enough: Its economy has forgotten how to grow. Indeed, even if you cast things in the most favorable light possible by adjusting for its shrinking working-age population, Italy’s economy is still roughly …Read More

Bloomberg, Editorial Board, (2018), “Europe’s Banks Aren’t Ready for the Next Crisis”, Bloomberg, 22 Οκτωβρίου A renewed bout of distress among Greek and Italian banks illustrates a deeper problem in Europe: The financial system’s overseers haven’t done nearly enough to prepare for the next crisis. They should redouble their efforts before the window of opportunity closes. The European economy may be doing relatively well, but you wouldn’t know it to …Read More

Anne-Laure Delatte, (2018), “Fixing the euro needs to go beyond economics”, VoxEU, 23 Οκτωβρίου The agenda to fix the euro is hampered by conflicting national interests. Creditor countries demand fiscal house cleaning and debtor countries ask for risk sharing. There is currently a political deadlock about how the adjustment burden should be distributed, perpetuating a state of vulnerability that is not in the collective interest of euro area members. This …Read More

Zsolt Gal, (2018), “Fiscal Consequences of the Refugee Crisis”,  International Migration, 17 Οκτωβρίου The European Union faced an unprecedented influx of asylum seekers during the 2014–2016 refugee and migration crisis. The admitted refugees pose a critical challenge, but at the same time represent an opportunity for the host countries’ public finances. If the fiscal balance of immigration is positive, then migrants become net contributors to public budgets, helping to alleviate …Read More

ILO, (2018), “ILO: Portugal’s post-crisis policies boosted growth and employment”, 12 Οκτωβρίου The study, entitled Decent work in Portugal 2008-18: From crisis to recovery , finds that Portugal way out of the crisis lied on a mix of economic and social policies which helped improve the business environment, public sector efficiency, education and training, and integration in global production chains. These factors – some of which pre-dated the crisis – …Read More

Carolynn Look, (2018), “Brexit Deadlock May Make ECB Reticence on Risks Hard to Sustain”, Bloomberg, 22 Οκτωβρίου The European Central Bank’s prospects for gradually weaning the economy off monetary support could yet be tested by a big unknown its officials don’t mention much: a disorderly Brexit. Policy makers have given limited prominence to that risk despite divorce talks between the U.K. and European Union repeatedly stalling before the country’s departure …Read More