Bibow, Jorg, (2013), “Germany and the Euroland Crisis-The Making of a Vulnerable Haven”, Levy Institute Working Paper, N. 767, June 2013. Τhis paper investigates Germany’s vulnerability to the ongoing Euroland crisis. In 2010–11, Germany experienced a strong rebound from the global financial crisis of 2008–09. The Euroland crisis then meant record low interest rates and a depressed euro that boosted German extra-area exports. But the crisis that started in Euroland’s …Read More
A realistic bridge towards European banking union
Veron, Nicolas, (2013), “A realistic bridge towards European banking union”, Peterson Institute for International Economics Policy Brief, N. 13-17. New obstacles to the European banking union have emerged over the last year, but a successful transition remains necessary and possible. The European Central Bank (ECB) gains supervisory authority over most of Europe’s banking system in late 2014, but first there must be a rigorous balance sheet assessment that is likely …Read More
The New Rome: The EU and the Pillage of the Indebted Countries
Polychroniou, C.J., (2013), “The New Rome: The EU and the Pillage of the Indebted Countries”, Levy Economics Institute of Bard College, May. The European Union (EU) is a treaty-based organization that was set up after World War II as a means of putting an end to a favorite practice of the Europeans: sorting out their national differences by engaging in bloody warfare. The European experiment—the formation of a Common Market, …Read More
Germany: A Global Miracle and a European Challenge
Bastasin, Carlo, (2013), “Germany: A Global Miracle and a European Challenge”, Brookings Institute, May. In 1994, five years after the fall of the Berlin Wall, the Germans feared that the unification of the two Germanys had failed. In 1997 the term “Reformstau” (the reform deadlock) had been elected as the “word of the year”. In 1999 and 2000 the weekly magazine The Economist called Germany “the sick man of Europe”. …Read More
Beware the Warrants
Pagratis, Spyros, (2013), “Beware the Warrants”, Greek Economists for Reform.com, 20 Μay. Current provisions for a too-early exit of the Hellenic Financial Stability Fund from Greek banks risk creating self-reinforcing market dislocations. By offering too many free warrants to private investors, at predetermined exercise prices, share prices of Greek banks could be driven consistently away from fundamentals. That could undermine the smooth transition to full private-sector ownership of the Greek …Read More
How Germany Benefits from the Euro in Economic Terms
Petersen, Thieß, (2013), “How Germany Benefits from the Euro in Economic Terms”, Bertelsmann Stiftung, 29 April. There can be no doubt about the fact that Germany benefits from the euro in a significant number of ways. For example, monetary union membership helps to reduce the cost of international trade, and provides protection against excessive exchange rate volatility. This means that even if Germany had to write off a large percentage …Read More
Youth unemployment-Does the EU care about it’s future?
Dheret, Claire, (2013), “Youth unemployment-Does the EU care about it’s future?” , European Policy Centre Publications, Policy Brief, April 2013. Youth unemployment levels in Europe are hitting new highs: more than 5.7 million (23.6%) young people in the European Union (EU) were without a job in January 2013. These figures, and more generally the growing number of NEETs (young people not in employment, education or training), pose a serious challenge …Read More
Principles of a Two-Tier European Deposit (Re-) Insurance System
Gros, Daniel, (2013), “Principles of a Two-Tier European Deposit (Re-)Insurance System”, CEPS Policy Brief, N. 287. There is general agreement that banking supervision and resolution have to be organized at the same level. It is often argued, however, that there is no need to tackle deposit insurance because it is too politically sensitive. This note proposes to apply the principles of subsidiarity and re-insurance to deposit insurance: Existing national deposit …Read More
Europe’s growth problem (and what to do about it)
Darvas, Zsolt, Pisani-Ferry, Jean and Wolff, Guntram, (2013), “Europe’s growth problem (and what to do about it)”, Bruegel – The Brussels-based think tank, 12 April. The issue: The European Union’s pre-crisis growth performance was disappointing enough, but the performance has been even more dismal since the onset of the crisis. Weak growth is undermining private and public deleveraging,and is fuelling continued banking fragility. Persistently high unemployment is eroding skills, discouraging …Read More
Who’s next in line in the eurozone crisis? Portugal and Slovenia are the prime candidates
Open Europe Team, (2013), “Who’s next in line in the eurozone crisis? Portugal and Slovenia are the prime candidates”, Open Europe, 11 April. The troubles in Cyprus have set off a new examination of the health of the eurozone, with a particular focus on which country might be next in line for a bailout and the extent to which shareholders and depositors will take losses when banks fail (bail-ins). Much …Read More