Silvia Merler, (2018), “The financial side of the productivity slowdown”, Bruegel, 22 January Specifically: (i) firms that entered the crisis with weaker balance sheets experienced decline in total-factor productivity growth, relative to their less vulnerable counterparts after the crisis; (ii) this decline was larger for firms located in countries where credit conditions tightened more; (iii) financially fragile firms cut back on intangible capital investment compared to more resilient firms, which …Read More

Ines Goncalves Raposo, (2018), “A few good (wo)men – on the representation of women in economics”, Bruegel, 15 January Last week, the American Economics Association Annual Meetings held a session on Gender Issues in Economics and later announced that a new code of professional conduct is in the pipeline. In this blogs review we revise the recent contributions on female representation and perception in economics. Relevant Posts Tingyun Chen, Jean-Jacques Hallaert, Alexander …Read More

Tingyun Chen, Jean-Jacques Hallaert, Alexander Pitt, Haonan Qu, Maximilien Queyranne, Alaina Rhee,Anna Shabunina,Jérôme Vandenbussche,Irene Yackovlev, (2018),  “Inequality and Poverty across Generations in the European Union”, IMF, 24 January This SDN studies the evolution of inequality across age groups leading up to and since the global financial crisis, as well as implications for fiscal and labor policies. Europe’s population is aging, child and youth poverty are rising, and income support systems are often better equipped to address …Read More

World Economic Forum, (2018), “The Inclusive Development Index 2018”, 22 January The Inclusive Development Index (IDI) is an annual assessment of 103 countries’ economic performance that measures how countries perform on eleven dimensions of economic progress in addition to GDP. It has 3 pillars; growth and development; inclusion and; intergenerational equity – sustainable stewardship of natural and financial resources.The IDI is a project of the World Economic Forum’s System Initiative …Read More

Wendy Carlin, David Soskice,(2018), “The macroeconomic performance paradox: A new model”, Vox, 23 January Following the post-financial crisis recession, standard macroeconomic models would have predicted either a destabilising deflationary spiral, or a return to the central bank’s inflation target with a positive ‘neutral’ real interest rate, along with a rebound of productivity growth, falling unemployment, and rising inflation. Relevant Posts Francesco Papadia, (2018), «Macroprudential policy: The Maginot line of financial stability«, …Read More

Francesco Papadia, (2018), “Macroprudential policy: The Maginot line of financial stability“, Bruegel, 17 January The ability of macroprudential policies to assure financial stability and thus leave central banks free to assign the interest rate tool exclusively to price stability is unproven. As the Maginot line did not protect France from a German invasion in WWII, so macroprudential policy may not be sufficient to counter financial instability. Central banks should prepare …Read More

Agnès Bénassy-Quéré, Markus K Brunnermeier, Henrik Enderlein, Emmanuel Farhi, Marcel Fratzscher, Clemens Fuest, Pierre-Olivier Gourinchas, Philippe Martin, Jean Pisani-Ferry, Hélène Rey, Isabel Schnabel, Nicolas Véron, Beatrice Weder di Mauro, Jeromin Zettelmeyer, (2018),  “How to reconcile risk sharing and market discipline in the euro area”, Vox, 17 Ιανουαρίου The euro area continues to suffer from critical weaknesses that are the result of a poorly designed fiscal and financial architecture, but its members …Read More

Urs Rohner, (2018), “GDP Should Be Corrected, Not Replaced”, Project Syndicate, 17 January The hazards of relying solely on gross domestic product as a measure of overall economic activity have become obvious over time, especially as corporate profits have outpaced GDP growth in key economies. But none of the flaws in GDP are fatal, and policymakers should focus on fixing them, rather than seeking an entirely new framework. Relevant Posts …Read More

Grégory Claeys, Maria Demertzis, Konstantinos Efstathiou, Inês Gonçalves Raposo, Pia Hüttl, Alexander Lehmann, (2018), “Analysis of development in EU capital flows in the global context”, Bruegel, 15 January The aim of this report is to analyse capital movements in the European Union in a global context. The monitoring and analysis of capital movements is essential for policymakers, given that capital flows can have welfare implications. Free movement of capital can enhance welfare …Read More