Minenna, Marcello, (2016), “The ECB At A Dangerous Crossroad As Berlin Endangers QE”, Social Europe, 20 July In the stormy aftermaths of Brexit, with Eurozone stock markets losing 8% on average and Sterling crashing, government bonds have remained substantially unperturbed. The ECB shield, in the form of the €80 billion of Public Sector Purchase Program (PSPP) monthly asset purchases, has been remarkably effective and has reduced volatility to the bare minimum. …Read More

Darvas, Zsolt, (2016), “Single market access from outside the EU: three key prerequisites”, Bruegel, 19 July In relative terms, Norway’s current net financial contribution to the EU is similar to the UK’s. Switzerland and Liechtenstein pay surprisingly little, while Iceland is a net beneficiary. Relative to their population, Switzerland, Norway, Iceland and Liechtenstein received about twice as large an inflow of EU immigrants as the UK. These countries also have to …Read More

Di Maggio, Marco, Kacperczyk, Marcin, (2016), “The unintended consequences of the zero lower bound policy for the money market funds industry”, Voxeu, 19 July The zero lower bound policy for nominal interest rates was implemented to stimulate sluggish economic growth and boost employment. This column explores whether this policy had unintended effects on the money market fund industry. Traditionally enjoying relatively low and safe returns, money market funds could respond to the low …Read More

Amihud, Yakov, Favero, Carlo, (2016), “How to fix Italian banks”, Voxeu, 19 July The public debate over how to resolve the problem of Italian banks centres on whether there should be a government bailout, or whether banks’ bondholders should bear the burden. Absent from the discussion is what will happen to the banks’ stockholders, who should theoretically be wiped out before bondholders are asked to undergo a haircut. This column addresses the problem …Read More