Honohan, Patrick, (2017), “Management and Resolution of Banking Crises: Lessons from Recent European Experience Patrick Honohan”, PIIE, January 2017 After almost a decade of contrasting and somewhat unpredictable policy responses to each succeeding bank failure, global policy for bank resolution has coalesced around a new approach.1 Replacing the seeming arbitrariness of earlier actions, the new international framework is designed to allow failing banks to be resolved smoothly without damaging interruptions …Read More

Bright, Ian, Janssen, Senne, (2017), “Helicopter money: Loved, not spent”, Voxeu, 13 January 2017 With growth and inflation in Europe remaining low, the idea of helicopter money is slowly gaining traction with politicians and economists alike. This column presents the results of a survey that asked people how, if they were to receive an extra €200 per month to do with as they chose, they would use the money. There was …Read More

Den Haan, Wouter, Ellison, Martin, Ilzetzki, Ethan, McMahon, Michael , Reis, Ricardo, (2017), “The future of central bank independence: Results of the CFM–CEPR Survey”, VoxEu, 10 Ιανουαρίου Over the past 30 years, most central banks across the advanced economies have been given the ability to conduct monetary policy independently from interference by fiscal and political authorities. The latest Centre for Macroeconomics and CEPR expert survey invited views on whether this era …Read More

Cahuc, Pierre, Charlot, Olivier, Malherbet, Franck, Benghalem, Hélène, Limon, Emeline, (2017), “Taxation of temporary jobs: Good intentions but bad outcomes”, VoxEu, 5 January Temporary job contracts account for a substantial proportion of the workforce in countries such as France and Spain, but they can result in high job turnover and instability. This column assesses the impact of government policies that impose taxes on temporary contracts to induce employers to lengthen …Read More

Masciandaro, Donato, (2017), “Doves, hawks … and pigeons: Why central bankers like monetary policy inertia”, VoxEu, 2 January The discussion of the delayed lift-off in US monetary policy is just the latest episode in a long-lasting debate over the causes of inertia in monetary policy. This column approaches the issue by assuming that psychological drivers can influence the decisions of central bankers. Loss aversion is one source of behavioural bias …Read More

García-Herrero, Alicia, Xu, Jianwei, (2016), “Is the UK’s role in the European supply chain at risk?”, Bruegel, 20 December Over the past decades the UK economy has become a party to global production chains in a number of sectors. Benefiting from tremendous investment by many of the world’s major multinational corporations, the UK has become an export leader, especially for automobiles and pharmaceutical products. We ask whether the UK’s engagement in …Read More

Gros, Daniel, Pieter de Groen, Willem, (2016), “A radical cure for Italy’s banking problems: A combination of good banks and soft bail-in”, CEPS, 20 December Italian banks are in a precarious situation, burdened by non-performing loans (NPLs) that are almost of the same magnitude as their capital and provisions. The gradual approach of dealing with NPLs via more provisioning and some sales has yielded little results. The political crisis now gives an …Read More

Perotti, Enrico, (2016), “Public policy in a zero-growth scenario”, VoxEu, 16 December Per-capita income in developed countries has stagnated, which most economists regard as a departure from the long-run trend. This column argues that zero long-term growth will be the new normal. In this zero-growth world, spending increases must always be balanced against spending reductions elsewhere or in the future, which creates a further problem: no politician could implement policy changes …Read More

Barwell, Richard, (2016), “No hawks, no doves, only consensus: How central banks set interest rates“, VoxEu, 19 December It is generally assumed that central bankers often argue over the appropriate conduct of monetary policy. Focusing on the Bank of England’s Monetary Policy Committee, this column argues however that based on what policymakers vote for, there is no evidence that they disagree with one another in any meaningful sense. Either policymakers …Read More

Bruzelius, Cecilia, Seeleib-Kaiser, Martin, (2016), “The case for a European minimum income scheme for jobseekers”, LSE EUROPP blog, 15 December On 13 December, the European Commission put forward a proposal to change the way EU citizens can access social benefits in other EU countries. Cecilia Bruzelius and Martin Seeleib-Kaiser argue that the proposal fails to address key weaknesses in the existing system and should be complemented by a European Minimum Income Scheme that …Read More