Gros, Daniel, (2016), “The silent death of eurozone governance”, CEPS, 19 August Sometimes the most important thing that happens is what doesn’t happen – or, to paraphrase Sherlock Holmes, it’s the dog that doesn’t bark in the night. The lack of response to the European Commission’s non-enforcement in Spain and Portugal of the terms of the Stability and Growth Pact (SGP) is one of those times. According to SGP rules, the Commission …Read More

Gonzalez-Eiras, Martin, Niepelt, Dirk, (2016), “Fiscal Federalism, Taxation and Grants”, CEPR, Αugust We propose a theory of tax centralization and inter governmental grants in politico-economic equilibrium. The cost of taxation differs across levels of government because voters internalize general equilibrium effects at the central but not at the local level. This renders the degree of tax centralization and the tax burden determinate even if none of the traditional, expenditure-related motives for …Read More

Constâncio, Vitor, Hartmann, Philipp, (2016), “Selected takeaways from the ECB’s Sintra Forum on “The Future of the International Monetary and Financial Architecture””, VoxEU, 1 September The ECB’s 2016 Sintra Forum on Central Banking focused on the international monetary and financial system. In this column, the organisers of the forum highlight some of the main points from the discussions, including concerns that the world economy may be suffering from a shortage of …Read More

Spence, Michael, (2016), “How to Fight Secular Stagnation”, Project Syndicate, 31 Αugust Much of the world, especially the advanced economies, has been mired in a pattern of slow and declining GDP growth in recent years, causing many to wonder whether this is becoming a semi-permanent condition – so-called “secular stagnation.” The answer is probably yes, but the question lacks precision, and thus has limited utility. There are, after all, different types …Read More

Eijffinger, Sylvester, (2016), “Europe needs its own Alexander Hamilton”, VoxEU, 31 Αugust The ECB is under fire from all sides for its inability to stimulate Europe’s economies. This column puts the case for an informal European ‘praesidium’ within the Eurogroup to coordinate wider stimulus and reform measures. This will inevitably lead to the appointment of a European finance minister – the Eurozone’s equivalent of Alexander Hamilton, the first Treasury Secretary in …Read More

Demary, Markus, (2016), “Why the ECB is not to blame for low interest rates”, LSE Europpblog, 22 Αugust In the latest set of EU stress tests, several German lenders performed poorly. As Markus Demary writes, some of this performance has been blamed on low interest rates squeezing the profitability of lenders. He argues that while the ECB has frequently been blamed for this situation, the reality is more complex and instead …Read More