Bartels, Bernhard, Eichengreen, Barry, Weder di Mauro, Beatrice, (2016), “No smoking gun: Private shareholders, governance rules, and central bank financial behaviour”, VoxEu, 14 November Recent events have heightened concerns that central banks with private shareholders might differ in their financial behaviour from purely public central banks, perhaps focusing excessively on profits, dividends, and risks to their balance sheets. Using information on shareholding and new data on governance rules for 35 …Read More

Georgiadis, Georgios, Mehl, Arnaud, (2016), “Financial globalisation and monetary policy effectiveness”, VoxEu, 14 November In theory, financial globalisation has ambiguous effects on monetary policy. It may dampen effectiveness, but it may also amplify it through exchange rate valuation effects. This column shows evidence that the latter effect has dominated since the 1990s. Financial globalisation has increased the output effect of a tightening in monetary policy by as much as 25%. …Read More

Dabrowski, Marek, (2016), “Are advanced economies at risk of falling into debt traps?”, Bruegel, 10 November One of the consequences of the global financial crisis has been rapid growth in public debt in most advanced economies. This Policy Contribution assesses the size of public debt in advanced economies and considers the potential consequences of sovereign insolvency. Relevant Posts Jaramillo, Laura, Mulas-Granados, Carlos, Kimani, Elijah, (2016), “The Blind Side of Public Debt Spikes”, …Read More

Roth, Felix, Jonung, Lars, Nowak-Lehmann, Felicitas, (2016), “Public support for the euro”, VoxEu, 11 November The euro as a common currency has recently been the subject of harsh criticism by economists from both sides of the Atlantic, including claims that citizens in some Eurozone countries are turning against the it. This column argues that, in fact, the euro currently enjoys comfortable popular support in each of the 12 original member states …Read More

Merler, Silvia, (2016), “Income convergence during the crisis: did EU funds provide a buffer?”, Bruegel, 10 November Economic convergence is at the heart of European Union integration.  Cohesion policy was born in the 1980s with the aim of complementing the creation of a single European market and fostering the economic development of less advantaged EU regions. This objective is especially relevant in light of the economic crisis that has exacted a …Read More

Bover, Olympia, Casado, Jose Maria, Costa, Sónia, Du Caju, Philip, McCarthy, Yvonne, Sierminska, Eva, Tzamourani, Panagiota, Villanueva, Ernesto, Zavadil, Tibor, (2016), “Diverging household debt patterns in the Eurozone: The role of institutions”, VoxEu, 8 November Household micro-data reveal striking differences in secured debt holdings across Eurozone countries. This column presents new evidence on the role of household characteristics and country institutions in accounting for the cross-country patterns observed. In countries with lengthier …Read More