Jouen, Μ. (2014) “The Single Market and Cohesion Policy Dyad: Battered by the Crisis and Globalisation”, Notre Europe Policy Papers, 28 April.   This Policy Paper by Marjorie Jouen aims at understanding the current relationship between the policy to reduce regional and social disparities and the one aimed at ensuring the opening of European markets. Part 1 recalls the nature of the strong bond between these policies for over twenty …Read More

Darvas, Z. & Wolff, B. G. (2014) “Europe’s social problem and its implications for economic growth“, Bruegel Policy Brief, 01 April.   The European Union faces major social problems. More than six million jobs were lost from 2008-13 and poverty has increased. Fiscal consolidation has generally attempted to spare social protection from spending cuts, but the distribution of adjustment costs between the young and old has been uneven; a growing …Read More

International Monetary Fund (2014) “Fiscal Policy and Income Inequality“, IMF Policy Paper, 23 January.   EXECUTIVE SUMMARY: Fiscal policy is the primary tool for governments to affect income distribution. Rising income inequality in advanced and developing economies has coincided with growing public support for income redistribution. This comes at a time when fiscal restraint is an important priority in many advanced and developing economies. In the context of the Fund’s …Read More

IMF, (2014), “Global Prospects and Policy Challenges”, Meetings of G-20 Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors, 22–23 February, Sydney, Australia. Global growth has strengthened as expected in recent months, largely driven by advanced economies, where easier financial market conditions and gradually improving consumer and business confidence have supported growth. While emerging economies have benefited from the stronger external demand, domestic demand has remained weaker than expected in many of them, …Read More

Wöhlbier, Fl., Astarita, C., and Mourre, G., (2014), “Consolidation on the revenue side and growth-friendly tax structures: an indicator based approach”, European Economy Economic Papers 513, February. The paper examines potential challenges arising at Member State level from the need and scope for either consolidating on the revenue side or shifting taxes away from labour. It uses a systematic indicator-based screening to identify Member States that may face a challenge …Read More

Barbiero, Fr., Darvas, Zs., “In sickness and in health: protecting and supporting public investment in Europe”, Bruegel Policy Contribution, Issue 2014/02. The long-term decline in gross public investment in European Union countries mirrors the trend in other advanced economies, but recent developments have been different: public investment has increased elsewhere, but in the EU it has declined and even collapsed in the most vulnerable countries, exaggerating the output fall. The …Read More

Valante, D., (2014), “Framing Banking Union in the Euro Area: Some empirical evidence”, CEPS Working Document, N. 389/February 2014. Evidence shows that financial integration in the euro area is retrenching at a quicker pace than outside the union. Home bias persists: Governments compete on funding costs by supporting ‘their’ banks with massive state aids, which distorts the playing field and feeds the risk-aversion loop. This situation intensifies friction in credit …Read More

Hardouvelis, Gikas (2014), “Overcoming the crisis in Cyprus”, Economy & Markets, Vol. IX, Issue 1. Following the March 2013 bail-in of large bank depositors and the subsequent crisis, Cyprus faces major challenges and risks during 2014 and 2015. The first challenge is to ensure financial stability and lift all capital control restrictions. Another challenge is to move fast with structural reforms, gain credibility in fiscal policy and ensure the recession ends …Read More

Merter, S. (2014), “Banking Union and Beyond: Discussion papers for Brussels Think Tank Dialogue”, Bruegel, 28 January. Three years have passed since the euro crisis broke out in 2010, revealing the shortcomings of the EMU architecture as it was foreseen in Maastricht. A number of reforms have been undertaken since 2010 in order to strengthen the Monetary Union, make it more adept to face the challenges of the financial integration …Read More