Simon Evenett, (2017), “Cloth for Wine? The Relevance of Ricardo’s Comparative Advantage in the 21st Century”, VoxEU, 6 December Two hundred years ago, with a simple yet profound example about England trading cloth for Portuguese wine, David Ricardo introduced the Principle of Comparative Advantage. In this eBook, leading trade policy analysts examine whether Ricardo’s insights remain valid in a world where services as well as good cross borders as does data and technology, where there …Read More

Sebastian Diessner , (2017), “The macroeconomic consensus underpinning EMU is shifting.Could it pave the way for a completion of the Eurozone?”, EUROPP LSE, 13 December The Eurozone crisis prompted many observers to conclude that the Eurozone requires a banking and fiscal union to be considered ‘complete’. But realising these aims remains politically difficult and it is far from clear how agreement can be reached on the way forward. Sebastian Diessner …Read More

Manuel Muñiz,(2017), “Europe As A Solution To Nationalism”, SocialEurope, 13 December José Ortega y Gasset, one of Spain’s pre-eminent intellectuals of the 20th century, wrote in his 1922 seminal work “Invertebrate Spain” that what underpins the existence of nations is not a common history but rather a “compelling project for tomorrow”. For Ortega it was not a shared past that brought and kept diverse peoples together but a captivating vision …Read More

Yann Algan, Sergei Guriev, Elias Papaioannou, Evgenia Passari, (2017), “The European trust crisis and the rise of populism”,VoxEu, 12 December A wave of populism has been gaining ground in the West since 2012. This column uses regional data for 26 European countries to explore how the impact of the Great Recession on labour markets has affected populist voting, political attitudes, and trust. The results indicate a strong link between unemployment …Read More

Pierre Briançon, (2017), “Beware return of eurozone’s north-south blame game”, Politico, 13 December Plans for grand eurozone reforms threaten to revive one of the most poisonous debates of the euro crisis, which nearly destroyed the monetary union.It’s been framed at times in terms of geography (the south of the Continent versus the north), in terms of morals (“virtuous” governments versus “sinners”), or in terms of pure politics (free-market conservatives versus …Read More

Stefani Micossi, (2017), “A fresh approach to complete the banking union in the Eurozone”, VoxEU, 11 December Negotiations on the banking union in the Eurozone have been stuck ever since the Italian government assembled a blocking minority opposing further discussions on proposals to reduce legacy risks in banks’ balance sheets. This column argues that completing the banking union should once again be given priority, and that the European deposit insurance …Read More

Elizabeth Konstantinova, Slav Okov, (2017), “A Tale of What Could Have Been for the EU’s Poorest Country”, Bloomberg Politics, 11 December A decade ago, Bulgarians flooded the streets in celebration of their ex-communist nation joining the European Union. There was a light show in the skies above the capital. Then-Prime Minister Sergei Stanishev called it a “dream come true.” The euphoria wasn’t just about shaking off the country’s Eastern Bloc …Read More

OECD, (2017), “Pensions reforms have slowed in OECD countries but need to continue”, 5 December Further reforms are needed across OECD countries to mitigate the impact of population ageing, increasing inequality among the elderly and the changing nature of work, according to a new OECD report. Pensions at a Glance 2017 says that public spending on pensions for the OECD as a whole has risen by about 1.5% of GDP …Read More

Nicolas Veron, (2017), “Sovereign Concentration Charges are the Key to Completing Europe’s Banking Union”, Bruegel, 7 December The past crisis revealed that most euro-area banks have disproportionate sovereign exposure in their home country. Charging banks for sovereign concentration is one solution to this issue, and would help advance the discussion on banking union. Relevant Posts Daniel Gros, (2017), «Banks as buyers of last resort for government bonds», VoxEU, 27 November …Read More