Zuleeg, F. (2014) “The benefits of Union?“, Commentary, EPC Publications, 19 September. Yesterday, as predicted by the polls, the people of Scotland rejected independence, opting to remain part of the United Kingdom, which also means that the EU does not have to face a Scottish application for membership. Some claim that this referendum has buried the question of Scottish independence indefinitely but this debate is probably not over: a …Read More
T.L.T.R.O. is Too Low to Resuscitate Optimism – the take up of liquidity under the ECB’s new TLTRO programme was well below expectations yesterday
Merler, S. (2014) “T.L.T.R.O. is Too Low to Resuscitate Optimism – the take up of liquidity under the ECB’s new TLTRO programme was well below expectations yesterday“, Bruegel Institute, 19 September. Yesterday the ECB held the first auction of liquidity under its new TLTRO programme. The take up was well below expectations, raising questions about the actual ability of the ECB to regain control of its balance sheet. It’s …Read More
European Employment Strategy – barely a new job in sight
Mitchell, B. (2014) “European Employment Strategy – barely a new job in sight“, Bill Mitchell Blog-Modern Monetary Theory … macroeconomic reality, 17 September. Eurostat released the latest – Employment – data for July 2014 last week (September 12, 2014) and announced that total employment was up by 0.2 per cent in the euro area. For those that study the data closely you will not be confused. But for the …Read More
The world’s happiest nations, in one map
German, L. (2014)”The world’s happiest nations, in one map“, Vox Media, 18 September. North America and South America make up the world’s happiest region, according to a new report from Gallup and Healthways. The report looked at five elements of well-being: sense of purpose, social life, finances, community, and physical health. Respondents from 135 countries self-reported their satisfaction with these elements, and Gallup and Healthway then compiled the results into their …Read More
What we Didn’t Learn from the Economic Crisis
Kurtzleben, D. (2014) “What we Didn’t Learn from the Economic Crisis“, Vox Media, 12 September. In the years since the financial crisis, countries have struggled to remove the causes of the most recent financial crisis. Thus far, they have failed. That’s the view of Martin Wolf, associate editor and chief economics commentator at the Financial Times. In his new book, The Shifts and the Shocks, Wolf examines what we’ve learned …Read More
Stop Structural Reforms and Start Public Investment in Europe
De Grauwe, P. (2014) “Stop Structural Reforms and Start Public Investment in Europe“, Social Europe Journal, 17 September. Slow growth in the Eurozone has become endemic since the start of the sovereign debt crisis in 2010. This is made very clear in Figure 1, which contrasts the growth experience of the Eurozone with the non-Eurozone EU-member countries since the start of the financial crisis in 2007. What is striking …Read More
Toil and Trouble in the United Kingdom: Why Scotland Won’t Be Europe’s Last Region to Seek Independence
Hill, F. & Shapiro, J. (2014) “Toil and Trouble in the United Kingdom: Why Scotland Won’t Be Europe’s Last Region to Seek Independence“, Brookings Think Tank, 16 September. On September 18, the people of Scotland will decide whether they wish to remain in the United Kingdom. As the referendum approaches, public attention has focused mostly on the implications of the vote for the future of Scotland and the United …Read More
Researchers’ Report 2014
European Commission (2014) Researchers’ Report 2014, DG Research and Innovation, Deloitte, September. The conditions for the completion of the European Research Area, as requested by the European Council (Member States are adopting the necessary reforms, research stakeholders are implementing the ERA actions, the Commission increased its support to ERA through Horizon 2020 and the monitoring mechanism has been agreed and established) are now in place. The ERA Progress report …Read More
Influencing the Debate from Outside the Mainstream: Keep it Simple
Baker, D. (2014) “Influencing the Debate from Outside the Mainstream: Keep it Simple“, Dean Baker’s comments at the 2014 Rethinking Economics NYC Forum, Forum titled “The Role of Economic Models in Public Policymaking”, 13 September. If people working outside of the mainstream of the profession are going to have any impact on economic policy debates in the United States it is essential that they understand the forum in which the …Read More
Reforming Europe’s governance, for a more Legitimate and Effective Federation of Nation States
Bertoncini, Υ. & Vitorino, Α. (2014) “Reforming Europe’s governance, for a more Legitimate and Effective Federation of Nation States“, New Decision-Makers – New Challengers Project, Notre Europe, Studies and Reports, September. If the challenges facing the EU demand, first and foremost, detailed political responses, it is essential that the European institutions whose aim is to come up with those political responses are fully legitimate and effective, and that the …Read More