Adair Turner, (2019), “What if Zero Interest Rates Are the New Normal?”, Project Syndicate, 29 March The valid insight behind “modern monetary theory” – that governments and central banks together can always create nominal demand – was explained by Milton Friedman in 1948. But it is vital also to understand that excessive monetary finance is hugely harmful, and it is dangerous to view it as a costless way to solve …Read More

Matthieu Darracq Pariès and Niki Papadopoulou, (2019), “On the credit and exchange rate channels of central bank asset purchases in a monetary union “, ECB Working Paper Series No 2259, March Through the euro area crisis, financial fragmentation across jurisdictions became a prime concern for the single monetary policy. The ECB broadened the scope of its instruments and enacted a series of non-standard measures to engineer an appropriate degree of …Read More

Christine Lagarde, (2019), “The Euro Area: Creating a Stronger Economic Ecosystem”, IMF, 28 March Twenty years ago, European countries did not just plant one tree, they planted an entire forest—creating a new economic ecosystem known as the euro area. The fundamental strength of that system lies in its interconnectedness and diversity—a combination that can help Europe to fully unlock its immense economic potential. Relevant Posts Jan Priewe, (2019), «Could Europe …Read More

Uri Dadush and Guntram Wolff, (2019), “The European Union’s response to the trade crisis”, Bruegel, Policy Contribution, Issue No 5, March The global trading system, a source of prosperity, is under attack on various fronts. The causes run deep and require a strategic response from the European Union and from the main trading nations. The future of the system hinges on the answer to three questions, and the scenarios associated …Read More

Lucrezia Reichlin, (2019), “The Eurozone’s Real Weakness”, Project Syndicate, 28 March A new eurozone crisis would most likely have a less uneven effect than in 2008 or 2011, not least because its largest economies are currently weak. But if a recession hits, policymakers will find it hard to mount an effective response. Relevant Posts Jan Priewe, (2019), «Could Europe face the next recession?», Social Europe, 19 March Paul Taylor, (2019), «Why …Read More

Steve Coulter, (2019), “Restoring trust in Europe—wage rises and workplace democracy”, Social Europe, 27 March Europe’s economy has been expanding for six straight years and more people are getting jobs. The crisis is fading from memory and austerity is easing off. So why aren’t Europeans happier? And why, in all but three countries surveyed recently by Eurobarometer (Figure 1), is trust in the European Union below what it was before …Read More

Giuseppe Ferrero, Mario Pietrunti and Andrea Tiseno, (2019), “Monetary policy in times of uncertainty: a reappraisal of the Brainard principle”, VoxEU, 21 March Dealing with uncertainty about the state of the economy is one of the main challenges facing monetary policymakers. In recent years there has been an extensive debate on the value of some of the deep parameters driving the economy, such as the natural rate of interest and …Read More

Lindsay Aqui, (2019), “How the story of Britain and Europe began: Was Brexit inevitable?”, LSE EUROPP, 26 March How did the story of Britain and Europe begin? Was Brexit inevitable? In this blog, Lindsay Aqui attempts to answer these and other questions as the UK’s protracted departure from the European Union enters yet another phase. Relevant Posts Josh De Lyon and Swati Dhingra, (2019), «UK economy since the Brexit vote: …Read More