Paul Taylor, (2019), “Why the eurozone is going backwards”, Politico, 4 March The destructive beast of nationalism is back on the prowl in Europe’s banking sector. Seven years after European leaders agreed to crisis-proof the Continent’s banks by bringing much of the sector under the supervision of the EU, national governments and regulators are undermining the effort. Relevant Posts Jurgen Stark, (2018), «The Eurozone’s Solidarity Fallacy», Project Syndicate, 17 December …Read More
Greece and Argentina show why pension reforms should not be used as a quick fix for a financial crisis
Marina Angelaki and Leandro Carrera, (2019), “Greece and Argentina show why pension reforms should not be used as a quick fix for a financial crisis”, LSE EUROPP, 1 March Greece and Argentina both introduced radical pension reforms following the financial crisis. Drawing on recent research, Marina Angelaki and Leandro Carrera argue that while both countries lacked access to international financial markets and had unsustainable pension systems, the reforms have been …Read More
What to look out for in the latest European Semester package
Konstantinos Efstathiou and Guntram B. Wolff, (2019), “What to look out for in the latest European Semester package”, Bruegel, 26 ΦβερουαρίουFebruary Implementation of the European Commission’s country-specific policy recommendations (CSRs) is at a low rate overall. Whether this trend has continued, particularly among those countries judged to have excessive macroeconomic imbalances, will be evident in the soon-to-be-released reports of the Commission. Relevant Posts Steven Blockmans (ed.), (2019) “What Comes After …Read More
Greece Has Just Days to Fix Things Before Its Next Cash Payment
Viktoria Dendrinou and Sotiris Nikas, (2019), “Greece Has Just Days to Fix Things Before Its Next Cash Payment” Bloomberg, 27 February Greece’s foot-dragging on some key economic reforms is raising creditor concern, putting at risk a planned debt relief measure next month and a rebound in its stock and bond markets. Relevant Posts Sotiris Nikas, (2019), «Risks at Home Mount for Greece in Its First Post-Bailout Year», Bloomberg Economics, 3 …Read More
The ECB has reached its political limits. Its consequences in eight charts
Ashoka Mody, (2019), “The ECB has reached its political limits. Its consequences in eight charts”, VoxEU, 11 February In this post, Ashoka Mody documents the costs of ECB timidity, which, he argues, arises from the political limits on its actions. Relevant Posts Ferdinando Giugliano, (2019), «The ECB Has Policy Makers, Not Superheroes», Bloomberg, 22 February Marcus Ashworth, (2019) «ECB Is Awake and Asleep at the Same Time», Bloomberg Opinion, 19 …Read More
The financial transmission of housing bubbles: evidence from Spain
Alberto Martín, Enrique Moral-Benito and Tom Schmitz, (2019), “The financial transmission of housing bubbles: evidence from Spain”, ECB Working Paper Series No 2245, February How do housing bubbles affect other economic sectors? We show that in the presence of collateral constraints, a bubble initially raises housing credit demand and crowds out credit to non-housing firms. If the bubble lasts, however, housing credit repayments raise banks’ net worth and expand credit …Read More
Solidarity in the Eurozone
Pavlos Eleftheriadis, (2019), “Solidarity in the Eurozone”, Bank of Greece Working Paper 256, January Proposals for Eurozone reform aim to complete its institutional architecture by securing stability without creating moral hazard. Such policy arguments inevitably rely, however, on implicit assumptions about justice, or on what is owed to whom. A common assumption is that member states are solely responsible for what happens to them. This paper, written from the point …Read More
Should the ECB care about the euro’s global role?
Benoît Coeuré, (2019), “Should the ECB care about the euro’s global role?”, VoxEU, 25 February There is a growing debate in Europe as to whether recent shifts in global governance should be seen as a reason to strengthen the global role of the euro. This column explains that while the ECB does not take a view on foreign policy questions, the alignment between policies that will strengthen the euro’s global …Read More
Interest rate risk in the euro area
Peter Hoffmann, (2019), “Interest rate risk in the euro area”, ECB Research Bulletin No. 55, 22 February Challenging conventional wisdom, recent research shows that, collectively, euro area banks have limited exposure to interest rate risk, but that their individual exposures vary significantly from institution to institution. Differences in interest-rate setting conventions for loan contracts, especially mortgages, across euro area countries have been shown to be an important driver of this …Read More
The ECB Has Policy Makers, Not Superheroes
Ferdinando Giugliano, (2019), “The ECB Has Policy Makers, Not Superheroes”, Bloomberg, 22 February Spare a thought for the European Central Bank. The minutes of the last Governing Council, published on Thursday, show the central bank is in a bind over the state of the euro zone recovery and the next steps to take. Relevant Posts Marcus Ashworth, (2019) «ECB Is Awake and Asleep at the Same Time», Bloomberg Opinion, 19 …Read More