Wolff Guntram , Sapir André, (2015), “Euro-area governance: what to reform and how to do it”, Bruegel Policy Brief , 27 April. The Issue Reform of the governance of the euro area is being held back by disagreement on what is at the root of the euro area’s woes. Pre-crisis, the euro area suffered from the built-up of financial imbalances, price and wage divergence and an insufficient focus on debt …Read More
Heise, Michael, (2015), “Ireland’s Lessons for Greece”, www.project-syndicate.org, 23 April. Greece’s government, led by the left-wing Syriza party, is demanding a new deal from its European creditors, claiming that the bailout program provided by the “troika” (the International Monetary Fund, the European Central Bank, and the European Commission) has plunged their country into a spiral of deflation and austerity. But, while no one disputes that things have gone wrong in …Read More
Eichengreen, Barry, (2015), Hall of Mirrors: The Great Depression, The Great Recession, and the Uses-and Misuses-of History, Oxford University Press USA The two great financial crises of the past century are the Great Depression of the 1930s and the Great Recession, which began in 2008. Both occurred against the backdrop of sharp credit booms, dubious banking practices, and a fragile and unstable global financial system. When markets went into cardiac …Read More
European Central Bank, (2015), Annual Report 2014. From a monetary policy perspective, the environment in 2014 was complex. The muted recovery that had begun in 2013 did not accelerate as initially expected. Monetary growth remained subdued and credit continued to contract, albeit at a gradually slower pace. In a context of low domestic inflationary pressures, the considerable fall in oil prices from the middle of 2014 resulted in further significant falls …Read More
Benczur P., Berti K., Cariboni J., Di Girolamo Fr. Er., Langedijk Sv., Pagano Andr., Giudici M., (2015), “Banking Stress Scenarios for Public Debt Projections”, European Commission. The euro area sovereign debt crisis brought to light the potential risks to public finances posed by the banking sector. This paper simulates the potential impact of bank defaults on public finances based on stress test scenarios using an advance analytical methodology. Relevant posts: …Read More
Eck, K, Engemann, M. & Schnitzer, M. (2015) “The role of trade credit financing in international trade“, VoxEU Organisation, 20 April 2015. Credits extended bilaterally between firms, so called trade credits, are particularly expensive yet many firms use it, especially for international transactions. This column argues that such cash-in-advance financing serves as a credible signal of quality. Data from a unique survey of German firms show that it fosters …Read More
Buti, M. & Turrini, A. (2015) “Three waves of convergence. Can Eurozone countries start growing together again?“, VoxEU Organisation, 17 April. An oft expressed view is that the Eurozone is a straitjacket on periphery members and income convergence has slowed, halted or reversed. This column argues that EZ convergence never stopped. What changed was the type of convergence. Today’s convergence is neither nominal nor real, it is structural. Structural …Read More
Ravi Kanbur & Joseph E. Stiglitz (2015) “Dynastic Inequality, Mobility and Equality of Opportunity“, Centre for Economic Policy Research (CEPR), Discussion Paper No. 10542, April. One often heard counter to the concern on rising income and wealth inequality is that it is wrong to focus on inequality of outcomes in a “snapshot.” Intergenerational mobility and “equality of opportunity”, so the argument goes, is what matters for normative evaluation. In …Read More
World Economic Outlook (WEO) Uneven Growth: Short- and Long-Term Factors, International Monetary Fund: World Economic and Financial Surveys, 15 April 2015. Global growth remains moderate, with uneven prospects across the main countries and regions. It is projected to be 3.5 percent in 2015, in line with forecasts in the January 2015 World Economic Outlook (WEO) Update. Relative to last year, the outlook for advanced economies is improving, while growth …Read More
Paugam, S. (2015) “The crisis and its impact on unemployed people in Europe Qualitative survey in seven EU Member States“, Final report for the European Commission DG Employment, Social Affairs and Inclusion, 15 April. As part of the package on “Coping strategies with crisis”, this study analyses experiences of unemployment in a recession and is based on a qualitative survey of a sample of over a hundred unemployed people from …Read More
