Buruma, I. (2014) “The Trouble with Europe“, Project Syndicate, 15 May. NEW YORK – According to the latest opinion polls, the big winners in the European Parliament election later this month will be right-wing populist parties that share a common loathing of the European Union, most notably the National Front in France, the Freedom Party in the Netherlands, and the United Kingdom’s Independence Party. Though the Euroskeptic right may …Read More
Infelise, F. (2014) “Supporting Access to Finance by SMEs: Mapping the initiatives in five EU countries“, Financial Markets, ECMI Research Reports, CEPS, 23 April. This paper maps the initiatives to support access to finance for small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) that were available at national level in 2012 in the five biggest European economies (Germany, France, the UK, Italy and Spain). This mapping distinguishes initiatives promoted and financed primarily …Read More
Piedrafita, S. & Renman, V. (2014) “The ‘Personalisation’ of the European Elections: A half-hearted attempt to increase turnout and democratic legitimacy?“, Politics and Institutions, EPIN Papers, Centre for European Policy Studies (CEPS), 11 April. On May 22nd to the 25th, elections to the European Parliament are taking place throughout the European Union. Following a recent EP initiative, most of the European political parties have selected top candidates for the position …Read More
Hobolt, S. B. (2014) “Ever closer or ever wider? Public attitudes towards further enlargement and integration in the European Union“, Routledge Publications, Journal of European Public Policy, Vol. 21, No. 5, pp. 664-680, 28 April. Proponents of the European project often portray further enlargement of the European Union as a complement to the process of building an ever closer union. The eurozone crisis, however, has highlighted the risks associated …Read More
Eichengreen, B. (2014) “Europe’s Crisis Treadmill“, Project Syndicate, 12 May. BERKELEY – This month marks the fourth anniversary of the May 2010 financial rescue of Greece. Previously, the idea that a eurozone member would seek emergency assistance from the International Monetary Fund, along with the European Commission and the European Central Bank, was unthinkable. The rescue thus marked Europe’s descent into full-blown crisis. Four years later, European officials are …Read More
Kowalsky, W. (2014) “Social Europe – In Europe Or In The Member States?”, Social Europe Journal, 12 May. A solution to save Social Europe by going back to the Member States is the key message of a recent contribution by Paul de Beer. Reading the “Roadmap to a Social Europe”, which shows a maze on its cover, he gets the impression that not so much is clear in the …Read More
Aziz, J. (2014) “Is It Time To End Fractional Reserve Banking?“, Pieria Network, 12 May. The moment you realize that the financial system has an inherent fragility at its heart — that people can simply lose confidence in the system, withdraw their deposits en mass, and because banks only keep a fraction of their deposits on hand cause a liquidity crisis where the bank runs out of money — …Read More
Tiffin, Α. (2014) “European Productivity, Innovation and Competitiveness: The Case of Italy“, IMF Working Paper, Strategy,Policy and Review Department, May. In Italy, price-based competitiveness measures are not always an accurate predictor of trade outcomes. This paper offers a more comprehensive assessment of Italian competitiveness, focusing on the role of innovation and the evolution of Italy’s export market share. Overall, Italy maintains a high-quality export mix, and the adaptability of …Read More
Hatcher, N. & Minford, P. (2014) “Inflation targeting vs price-level targeting: A new survey of theory and empirics“, VoxEU Organisation, 11 May. Inflation targeting and price-level targeting have excited economists for decades. This column reviews a survey on the merits of price-level targeting. The latter could potentially help monetary policy deal with the zero bound on nominal interest rates. Such beneficial effects depend on rational expectations and a New …Read More
Minas, C., Jacobson, D., Antoniou, E. & McMullan, C. (2014) “Welfare regime, welfare pillar and southern Europe“, Journal of European Social Policy, Vol. 24, No. 2, May, pp. 135-149. This paper uses a variety of methods of statistical cluster analysis to examine how EU countries (other than the new East European members) are grouped. Using the four dimensions, family, market vs state, religion and clientelism, the results of the …Read More
