Schneider, Fr., Williams, C., (2013), “The Shadow Economy”, The Institute of Economic Affairs. To some people, the shadow economy is a great example of free economic activity at work. It is entirely unregulated except by the participants themselves; no tax is paid on shadow economic activity; and it may be possible to pursue activities in the shadow economy which are prohibited by law unjustly. Indeed, the smugglers of Sussex are …Read More
IMF: Fourth Review Under Extended Fund Facility Arrangement for Greece, Approves €1.72 Billion Disbursement
IMF, (2013), “Completes Fourth Review Under Extended Fund Facility Arrangement for Greece, Approves €1.72 Billion Disbursement”, Press Release No. 13/280. The Executive Board of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) today completed the fourth review of Greece’s performance under an economic program supported by an Extended Fund Facility (EFF) arrangement. The completion of this review enables the disbursement of SDR 1.51 billion (about €1.72 billion, or US$2.29 billion), which would bring …Read More
A Levy Institute Model for Greece
Papadimitriou, D., Zezza, G., Nikiforos, M., (2013), “A Levy Institute Model for Greece”, Levy Institute. In this report, we present the main characteristics of a stock-flow consistent model for Greece, estimated on quarterly data over the last 30 years and built to provide us with a “tool for thinking,” in the words of Wynne Godley (the architect of such models), to explore the implications of alternative policy options for the …Read More
Standard Eurobarometer, N. 79
European Commission, (2013), “Standard Eurobarometer”, N. 79, Spring 2013. This report presents the first results of the Standard Eurobarometer 79 survey, which was carried out between 10 and 26 May 2013 in 34 countries or territories1: the 27 European Union Member States, the six candidate countries (Croatia, the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Turkey, Iceland, Montenegro and Serbia), and the Turkish Cypriot Community in the part of the country that …Read More
Action Plan on Base Erosion and Profit Shifting
OECD, (2013), Action Plan on Base Erosion and Profit Shifting, 19 July. Taxation is at the core of countries’ sovereignty, but in recent years, multinational companies have avoided taxation in their home countries by pushing activities abroad to low or no tax jurisdictions. The G20 asked OECD to address this growing problem by creating this action plan to address base erosion and profit shifting. This plan identifies a series of domestic and …Read More
The Transformation of the Greek Party System
Konstantinidis, Nikitas, (2013), “The Transformation of the Greek Party System”, www.greekpublicpolicyforum.org, 11 July. Despite a somewhat promising start, the outgoing coalition government of New Democracy (ND), PASOK, and the Democratic Left proved to be short-lived, giving way to a more compact bipartisan cabinet consisting of only ND and PASOK ministers (at an agreed ratio of two-to-one). Toiling under the shackles of a sclerotic austerity program, the first few true attempts …Read More
The Next Social Contract
Derviş, Kemal, (2013), “The Next Social Contract”, www.project-syndicate.org, 18 July. Around the world nowadays, persistent unemployment, skill mismatches, and retirement frameworks have become central to fiscal policy – and to the often-fierce political debates that surround it. The advanced countries are facing an immediate “aging” problem, but most of the emerging economies are also in the midst of a demographic transition that will result in an age structure similar to …Read More
OECD Employment Outlook
OECD, (2013), Employment Outlook, Paris. Concerns are growing in many countries about the strains that persistently high levels of unemployment are placing on the social fabric. Over five years have passed since the onset of the global financial and economic crisis but an uneven and weak recovery has not generated enough jobs to make a serious dent in unemployment in many OECD countries. In April 2013, 8% of the OECD …Read More
IMF, (2013), World Economic Outlook-Update, July.
IMF, (2013), World Economic Outlook-Update, July. Global growth is projected to remain subdued at slightly above 3 percent in 2013, the same as in 2012. This is less than forecast in the April 2013 World Economic Outlook (WEO), driven to a large extent by appreciably weaker domestic demand and slower growth in several key emerging market economies, as well as a more protracted recession in the euro area. Downside risks …Read More
A Panacea for all Times? The German Stability Culture as Strategic Political Resource
Howarth, David, Rommerskirchen, Charlotte, (2013), “A Panacea for all Times? The German Stability Culture as Strategic Political Resource”, West European Politics, Vol. 36, Issue 4, August 2013, p.p. 750-770 The German Stability Culture is frequently pointed to in the literature as the source of the country’s low inflation policies and, at the European Union level, the design of Economic and Monetary Union (EMU). In Germany, the term was regularly wielded …Read More