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Tax progressivity and the government’s ability to collect additional tax revenue

Holter, H., Krueger, D. & Stepanchuk, S. (2015) “Tax progressivity and the government’s ability to collect additional tax revenue“, VoxEU Organisation, 20 February.   Since the Global Crisis, debt sustainability has received increasing attention. This column argues that the maximum sustainable debt level depends negatively on the progressivity of the tax system. The authors estimate that the US is still relatively far from the peak of its Laffer curve and …Read More

What Germany Owes Greece

Crook, C. (2015) “What Germany Owes Greece“, BloombergView, 19 February.   How much does it matter, if at all, that Greece’s demand for a new bailout program with softer terms is being pressed by a new government, elected for that very purpose — a government that retains solid support even as its standoff with other European Union governments drags on? How much does democracy matter in a situation like this? …Read More

Who’s Extorting Whom? It’s All About Coercion

Weisbrot, M. (2015) “Who’s Extorting Whom? It’s All About Coercion“, The Huffington Post, 17 February.   The Economist‘s Feb. 6 cover displayed the Venus de Milo statue pointing a revolver, with the headline “Go ahead, Angela, make my day.” In the editors’ upside-down world, Greece is threatening Europe, or at least Germany. Really? On Monday, Feb. 16, European officials “handed Athens an ultimatum: Agree by Friday to continue with a …Read More

Which Side Are You On, Jeroen Dijsselbloem?

Lizoain, D. (2015) “Which Side Are You On, Jeroen Dijsselbloem?“, Social Europe Journal, 18 February.   Just over a hundred years have passed since the greatest failure of European social democracy. The workers’ movement was unable to halt the needless slaughter of World War I. First, Jean Jaures was assassinated, silencing his powerful anti-militarist voice. Soon after, the German SPD voted to authorize war credits for the Kaiser. Proletarian internationalism …Read More

Folder on the negotiations of Greece in the Eurogroup

The Ministry of Finance of Greece was published a folder that includes the presentations of the Greek Finance Minister, Y. Varoufakis, before his counterparts during the Eurogroup meetings of the 11th and 16th of February 2015. The folder includes the documentation non papers provided by the negotiating team, as well as the draft proposals for Greece by the Head of the Eurogroup, J. Dijsselbloem, and the European Commissioner for Economic …Read More

Greece, Its International Creditors and the Euro

Sabri Öncü, T. (2015) “Greece, Its International Creditors and the Euro“, Naked Capitalism Blog, 17 February.   Yves here. This is an excellent background piece on how Greece got where it is and how its various bailouts were structured. It also helps explain the past and current roles the various members of the Troika play and discusses the prospects for Greece achieving its aims. By T ([email protected]), a financial economist …Read More

The Lunch Question – A Brief History of Inequality

Morris, I. (2015) “The Lunch Question – A Brief History of Inequality“, Global Affaris, STRATFOR Global Intelligence, 11 February.   At an event in Beijing last November, I had the good fortune to meet the French economist Thomas Piketty, who has sold 1.5 million copies of his book, Capital in the Twenty-First Century, since it was first published in 2013. Pacing up and down in front of a packed auditorium, …Read More

Germany Emerges

Friedman, G. (2015) “Germany Emerges“, Geopolitical Weekly, STRATFOR Global Intelligence, 10 February.   German Chancellor Angela Merkel, accompanied by French President Francois Hollande, met with Russian President Vladimir Putin on Feb. 6. Then she met with U.S. President Barack Obama on Feb. 9. The primary subject was Ukraine, but the first issue discussed at the news conference following the meeting with Obama was Greece. Greece and Ukraine are not linked …Read More

Do derivatives make the world safer?

Vuillemey, G. (2015) “Do derivatives make the world safer?, VoxEU Organisation, 12 February.   The interest rate derivatives market has grown tenfold over the past 15 years. These contracts are mostly held by commercial banks, raising financial stability concerns. This column discusses how hedging using derivatives affects bank lending and the occurrence of bank defaults. The interest rate derivatives market is the largest market in the world, with an aggregate …Read More

Portugal must rebalance its economy and improve education to continue its economic recovery

Franco, F. (2015) “Portugal must rebalance its economy and improve education to continue its economic recovery“, LSE EUROPP, 12 February.   Portugal was one of the worst hit countries by the Eurozone crisis, but emerged from its bailout programme in 2014. As part of our ‘economies of Europe’ series, Francesco Franco provides an account of the development of the Portuguese economy since the crisis, including some of the key challenges …Read More