Pasimeni, Paolo, Riso, Stéphanie, (2017),“An assessment of the redistributive function of the EU budget”, VoxEu, 19 Ιανουαρίου EU budget reform is a key issue in policy debates, in particular the redistributive effects between member states. This column assesses redistribution within the EU budget over the period 2000 to 2014. It finds that the net redistributive impact of the EU budget is rather small and, contrary to common belief, that the …Read More
Italy 2017: Back To Austerity
Minenna, Marcello, (2017), “Italy 2017: Back To Austerity”, Social Europe, 19 January The political turmoil that followed the Renzi government’s resignation after the results of Italy’s referendum on constitutional reforms, the hurried appointment of the new executive and the endless emergency of Monte dei Paschi overshadowed the letter that the European Commission sent on December 5th to the outgoing administration. In concise terms, the letter confirmed what was already in …Read More
Europe’s Make-or-Break country: what is wrong with Italy’s economy?
Giugliano, Ferdinando, Odendahl, Christian, (2016), “Europe’s Make-or-Break country: what is wrong with Italy’s economy?”, Centre for European Reform, 19 December After Matteo Renzi lost his referendum on constitutional reform and resigned, Italy returned to the European spotlight. Although it is a founding member of the EU, Italian public support for the European project is among the lowest in Europe; it is the eurozone’s third largest economy, but its economy is the …Read More
The economic effects of migration
Merler, Silvia, (2017), “The economic effects of migration”, Bruegel, 16 January What’s at stake: migration is currently a very hot topic in both the US and the EU. Immigration issues have come to the forefront due to the problem of rapidly ageing populations, the refugee crisis, and growing anti-immigration political rhetoric. But what do we know about the economic effects of migration? Relevant Posts Bertoncini, Yves, De Geus, Aart, Niblett, Robin, Styczynska, Izabela, Gastaldo, Piero, …Read More
State financing needs and sources in 2017 and beyond; evaluation of the agreed short-term debt relief measures & updated DSA
Monokroussos, Platon, (2017), “State financing needs and sources in 2017 and beyond; evaluation of the agreed short-term debt relief measures & updated DSA”, Eurobank Research, January This study constitutes an update of a Eurobank Research piece titled “Greece Evaluation of the agreed short-term relief measures & updated sustainability analysis of Greek public debt” that was published in December 2016. It provides a detailed analysis of Greece’s projected public borrowing needs …Read More
How to balance sovereignty and integration in a voluntary EU
Dabrowski, Marek, (2017), “How to balance sovereignty and integration in a voluntary EU”, Bruegel, 12 January The principle of voluntary membership is a central value of the EU project, but it is also a source of many of its problems. How can the member states address those problems in order to repair the EU’s integration architecture? The European Union and its institutions are often criticised for their supposed ineffectiveness, slowness …Read More
Negative interest rates: absolutely everything you need to know
Blanke, Jennifer, Krogstrup, Signe, (2016), “Negative interest rates: absolutely everything you need to know”, World Economic Forum, 2 November Since the great recession, a large number of advanced economies have been stuck with low growth and low levels of investment and inflation. Attempting to regain growth, central banks have taken increasingly forceful monetary measures. Of these, perhaps the most controversial and least understood is negative interest rates. The central bank of …Read More
Banks Credit and Productivity Growth in the EU
Hassan, Fadi, di Mauro, Filippo, I.P. Ottaviano, Gianmarco, (2016), “Banks Credit and Productivity Growth in the EU”, European Investment Bank Working Papers 2016/05, 20 December Financial institutions are key to allocate capital to its most productive uses. In order to examine the relationship between bank credit and firm-level productivity in the context of different financial markets set-ups, we introduce a model of overlapping generations of entrepreneurs under complete and incomplete credit markets. …Read More
From Debt Collection to Relief Provision: 60 Years of Official Debt Restructurings through the Paris Club
Cheng, Gong, Diaz-Cassou, Javier, Erce, Aitor, (2016), “From Debt Collection to Relief Provision: 60 Years of Official Debt Restructurings through the Paris Club”, European Stability Mechanism, 22 December Despite the frequency of official debt restructurings, little systematic evidence has been produced on their characteristics and implications. Using a dataset covering more than 400 Paris Club agreements, this paper aims to fill that gap. It provides a comprehensive description of the …Read More
Finance and growth: The direction of causality
Lin Chong, Eilyn Yee, Mody, Ashoka, Varela Sandoval, Francisco, (2017), “Finance and growth: The direction of causality”, VoxEu, 17 January Recent research suggests a point beyond which the benefits of financial development diminish, and further development can even hurt growth. This column describes how a negative relationship between credit and growth emerged strongly after 1990 and was particularly pronounced in the Eurozone, consistent with the notion that an overgrown financial sector weakens economic …Read More