Münchau, W., (2013), “Optimism about an end to the euro crisis is wrong”, The Financial Times, 27 October. Adjustment is the key to ending the eurozone crisis. The optimists are saying that this process of regaining competitiveness is now taking place. Look at the success of the Spanish export sector or the fall in Greek wages. And, in any case, the eurozone economy is rebounding, which helps further. This judgment …Read More
Hacker, B., (2013), “Breakup Is Not A Solution to the Eurozone Crisis”, Social Europe Journal, 25 October. The unexpectedly high level of support for the new party “Alternative für Deutschland” (AFD) in the general elections in Germany puts their central program point back on the agenda of the political debate. Parties proposing a dissolving of the common currency might gain ground prior to the European Elections in 2014. But the …Read More
Schmidt, V. and Thatcher, M., (2003), “Why are Neo-liberal ideas so resilient?”, Policy Network , 24 October. Given the abject failure of the Neo-liberal policy offer, why has it persisted as the dominant approach to European policymaking and is there any way out? Despite the economic crisis that hit the US and Europe full force in 2008, political leaders have made little attempt to rethink the neo-liberal ideas that are …Read More
Tamborini, R., (2013), “Austerity and Growth: Dispelling Confusion with Some Facts”, EconoMonitor, 24 October. A lot of confusion surrounds the quarrel about austerity and growth in and among the Euro-countries. Confusion helps neither the assessment of the current policies nor the choice of the correct ones. Critics of austerity argue that it is mainly responsible for the extent and persistence of low or negative growth rates after the Great Recession …Read More
Fouka, V. and Voth, H.J., (2013), “Massacre memories: German car sales and the EZ Crisis in Greece”, VoxEU, 23 October. The EZ crisis increased north-south conflicts between bailout providers and recipients – especially between Germany and Greece. This column shows evidence that political conflict directly translated into losses of market share for German car producers in Greece – especially in areas where German armed forces committed massacres during World War …Read More
LSE, (2013), A Strategy for Southern Europe, London: LSE !deas. Over the last five years Southern Europe has experienced widespread economic, political and social upheaval of almost existential proportion. Greece, Italy, Spain and Portugal, stricken by the Eurozone crisis and the aftershocks of the Arab Spring, face uncertain futures. This report examines the challenges confronting Southern Europe and seeks to explore the potential benefits the countries of the region could …Read More
Zalc, J., (2013), “European Public Opinion: Is this the end of pessimism?”, Fondation Robert Schuman, Policy Paper No 290, October. After many long years of crisis during which the state of European public opinion has deteriorated, notably regarding its support of the Union and its institutions there are now some signs which seem to indicate that things are picking up. At a time when economic forecasts for 2014 give reason …Read More
In’t Veld, Y., (2013), “Fiscal consolidations and spillovers in the Euro are periphery and core”, European Commission, Directorate-General for Economic and Financial Affairs, Economic Papers 506, October. This paper uses a structural multi-country model to assess the impact of fiscal consolidation measures undertaken in 2011-13 in the EA periphery and core. The simulations assume ‘crisis’ conditions prevailing (high share of constrained households, ZLB). The GDP effects depend crucially on the …Read More
Vedrine, H., (2013), “Europe’s Flight from Futility”, Project Syndicate, 22 Οctober. In the next 25 years, Europe’s share of the world population and global GDP is expected to fall considerably. Does that mean that a weakened Europe will fall prey to the rising powers of 2040? Given that Europe’s prospects are highly dependent on external factors, any speculation about its future must account for global conditions. One thing seems certain: …Read More
Weeks, J., (2013), “Unemployment in the Eurozone: Alternatives for α Regional Support Program”, Social Europe Journal, 21 October. A few days ago, the Bertelsmann Stiftung hosted a conference in Brussels on “Automatic Stabilizers for the Eurozone” (October 11), with the focus on an EU-wide system of supplemental unemployment benefits. On superficial inspection the conference agenda appeared to involve a technical assessment of policy alternatives, a conference for “policy wonks” to …Read More
