Gros, Daniel, (2016), “Can Trump Save the Euro?”, Project Syndicate, 6 December Europe has just endured two more difficult tests. While Austrian voters rejected the possibility of the European Union getting its first far-right head of state, Italians delivered a stinging rebuke to their government – and opened the way for populist forces to come to power. Add to that a Brexit that has yet to unfold and the eurozone’s …Read More

Demetriades, Stavroula, (2016), “Secret For Business Success In Crisis Times? Trust And Dialogue”, Social Europe, 7 December Europe has gone through significant economic change over the past decade. Businesses have had to manage unprecedented challenges posed by the financial crisis, globalisation and a rapidly changing labour market. But fresh challenges do not always require radical new approaches – innovation can be found in the ways new measures and reforms are implemented …Read More

Funk Kirkegaard, Jacob, (2016), “Austria and Italy Votes Show European Nationalism Not Unchecked”, Peterson Institute for International Economics, 5 December Rumors of Europe’s imminent demise—or right-wing nationalist takeover—have been greatly exaggerated, it turns out. Voters in Austria and Italy went to the polls this weekend. Austrians chose the establishment candidate Alexander van der Bellen as their next president—a largely ceremonial role—while Italians emphatically rejected Prime Minister Matteo Renzi’s plan to reform …Read More

Pisani-Ferry, Jean, (2016), “Preventing the Next Eurozone Crisis Starts Now”, Project Syndicate, 1 December European leaders have devoted scant attention to the future of the eurozone since July 2012, when Mario Draghi, the European Central Bank’s president, famously committed to do “whatever it takes” to save the common currency. For more than four years, they have essentially subcontracted the eurozone’s stability and integrity to the central bankers. But, while the ECB …Read More

Sinn, Hans-Werner, (2016), “Europe’s Secret Bailout”, Project Syndicate, 28 November While the world worries about Donald Trump, Brexit, and the flow of refugees from Syria and other war-torn countries, the European Central Bank continues to work persistently and below the public radar on its debt-restructuring plan – also known as quantitative easing (QE) – to ease the burden on over-indebted eurozone countries. Relevant Posts Hüttl, Pia, Merler, Silvia, (2016), “An update: Sovereign …Read More

Afonso, Alexandre, (2016), “Academic labour markets in Europe vary widely in openness and job security”, LSE EUROPP blog, 24 November Having examined the organisation of Europe’s academic labour markets, Alexandre Afonso outlines the main differences between countries across the continent. There is greatest variance in two particular areas: the extent to which academic labour markets are open to outsiders, and the job security they provide for recent PhD graduates. This has obvious …Read More

Reinhart, Carmen, (2016), “Fleeing from Italy”, Project Syndicate, 23 November Italy’s referendum on December 4 will give voters the opportunity to approve or reject what some have described as the country’s most extensive constitutional reforms since the abolition of the monarchy at the end of World War II. Yet it may be the fact that Italy’s three opposition parties all favor exiting the euro that explains why Prime Minster Matteo Renzi …Read More

Codogno, Lorenzo, Monti, Mara, (2016), “Watch Italy’s referendum for potential banking problems”, LSE EUROPP blog, 22 November Italy’s constitutional referendum is fast approaching and financial markets are already jittery. Lorenzo Codogno and Mara Monti write that while some observers have pointed to the risk of the Five Star Movement getting into power, or even Italy leaving the euro, these are unlikely developments, at least in the short term. The real issue is …Read More

Alonso Alonso, Lucas Juan Manuel, (2016), “European Union’s Key Figures”, LSE Euro Crisis in the Press blog, 15 November With the objective to draw some conclusions about macroeconomic stability and economic structure, this article examines for the 28 Member States of the European Union, the following aspects: GDP and AIC per capita, General Government Gross Debt, Labour Productivity (monetary units and percentages), Average Annual Wages, Annual Hours Worked, Jobless and Average …Read More

Dedola, Luca, Laeven, Luc, (2016), “Highlights from the 1st ECB Annual Research Conference”, VoxEu, 15 November In September 2016, the ECB held its first Annual Research Conference. This column surveys the contributions to the conference, which brought together policymakers and academics from around the world to promote discussion of topics at the forefront of monetary and financial economic research. Nobel laureate Eric Maskin gave the keynote lecture, addressing whether fiscal policy …Read More