Beetsma, Roel, Debrun, Xavier, (2016), “Debunking ‘fiscal alchemy’: The role of fiscal councils”, Voxeu, 16 Μay
The success of independent central banks is often used to argue in favour of independent fiscal councils with the aim of promoting sound fiscal policies. But unlike central banks, fiscal councils have no policy levers to pull – they can bark but never bite. This column explores the theoretical foundations and practical implications of fiscal councils. The evidence suggests that independent councils can mitigate the deficit bias. They do this by subjecting the ‘fiscal alchemy’ to systematic, rigorous, and highly publicised scrutiny.
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- Allard, Céline, Bluedorn, John C, (2016), “Towards a fiscal union for the Eurozone”, Voxeu, 22 Αpril