Bluedorn, John C., Ebeke,  Christian, (2016), “Sluggish Business Investment in the Euro Area: The Roles of Small and Medium Enterprises and Debt”, iMF-direct, 4 Αugust Small businesses could be the lifeblood of Europe’s economy, but their size and high debt are two of the factors holding back the investment recovery in the euro area. The solution partly lies in policies to help firms grow and reduce debt. Our new study, part …Read More

Micossi, Stefano, (2016), “The glass is still half-empty: Eurozone stability under threat of a ‘bad shock’”, Voxeu, 20 Αugust Some economists are approaching a consensus that the Eurozone’s financial architecture is now resilient enough to withstand another shock similar to that of 2010-11. This column argues that such a view may be overly optimistic. Economic and financial instability persists in member states and the banking sector, and institutions to tackle a …Read More

Jobst, Andy, Lin, Huidan, (2016), “The ECB’s Negative Rate Policy Has Been Effective but Faces Limits”, iMF-direct, 10 Αugust More than two years ago, seeking to revive a moribund economy, the European Central Bank (ECB) embarked on a new monetary policy measure: charging interest on excess liquidity that banks held at the central bank. The move complemented a series of other easing measures aimed at bringing inflation back to the ECB’s …Read More

Navarro, Vicente, (2016), “Is The Nation-State And Its Welfare State Dead? A Critique Of Varoufakis”, Social Europe, 4 Αugust I always read the writings of Mr. Varoufakis with great interest, and I frequently find myself in agreement, particularly in his criticism of the Troika (the International Monetary Fund, European Commission, and European Central Bank) and of the Eurogroup (the Ministers of Economy and Finances of the European Union). I also …Read More

Feld, Lars, Schmidt, Christoph, Schnabel, Isabel, Wieland, Volker, (2016), “Unity in diversity: The way forward for Europe”, Voxeu, 22 Αugust It has been suggested that the vote for Brexit marks the first step of disintegration in Europe. This column argues that if the European integration process is pursued wisely, it still carries the promise of enduring peace and growing prosperity. But EU policymakers must devise a process of integration that strengthens …Read More

Aiyar, Shekhar, Ebeke, Christian, Shao, Xiaobo, (2016), “The Euro Area Workforce is Aging, Costing Growth”, iMF-direct, 17 August In parallel to the aging of the general population, the workforce in the euro area is also growing older. This could cause productivity growth to decline in the years ahead, raising another policy challenge for governments already dealing with legacies from the crisis such as high unemployment and debt. Relevant Posts Barslund, Mikkel, Busse, Matthias, …Read More