Van Beers, N., Bijlsma, M. & Zwart T. J., G. (2014) “Cross-country Insurance Mechanisms in Currency Unions”, Bruegel Institute, 27 March. Countries in a monetary union can adjust to shocks either through internal or external mechanisms. We quantitatively assess for the European Union a number of relevant mechanisms suggested by Mundell’s optimal currency area theory, and compare them to the United States. For this purpose, we update a number …Read More
EU Launches Long-Awaited Overhaul of Megabank Regulation
Spellman, J. (2014) “EU Launches Long-Awaited Overhaul of Megabank Regulation“, The European Institute, EI Blog, January. The European Union’s long-delayed overhaul of megabank regulation now proposes curtailing or banning the riskiest financial activities in hopes of avoiding a repeat of the 2007-2009 global financial system meltdown. Until now, the post-crisis EU banking reforms had not acted to rein in “too big to fail” banks, focusing instead on establishing a …Read More
Financing the Real Economy
Canton, E. (2014) “Financing the Real Economy“, ECFIN Economic Brief, Issue 30, February 2014. Introduction In the aftermath of the economic and financial crisis, policymaking became more geared towards structural reforms to support the process of economic recovery, steered at the EU level through the reinforced economic govern-ance. While there areencouraging signs that an economic recovery is underway in Europe, growth pro-spects are modest and further re-forms remain necessary …Read More
Why The ECJ Should Reject The German Constitutional Court’s Ruling
De Grauwe, P. (2014) “Why the ECJ Should Reject the German Constitutional Court’s Ruling“, Social Europe Journal, 11 March 2014. Despite having a positive effect on the economic situation within the Eurozone, the European Central Bank’s Outright Monetary Transactions (OMT) program has proved controversial, with the German Constitutional Court in Karlsruhe recently deeming it illegal under EU law. Paul De Grauwe argues that the ruling reflects a serious misunderstanding of central banking …Read More
If Scotland, why not Greece?
Varoufakis, Y. (2014) “If Scotland, why not Greece?“, Yannis Varoufakis Thoughts for the post-2008 World, 10 March Why an independent Scotland should get out of sterling, but Greece should not volunteer to exit the Eurozone Scotland should state its intention to decouple from sterling, once independent, rather than petitioning for a continuation of its subservient role in an asymmetrical sterling union. Or so I argued in the Scottish Times in ‘Scotland …Read More
Options for Europe – Part 40
Mitchell, B., (2014), “Options for Europe – Part 40”, bilbo.economicoutlook.net, 6 Μαρτίου. The Christophersen Report of August 1990, which expressed the European Commission’s own viewpoint on how economic and fiscal policies might be coordinated, concluded that there “does not need to be a single economic policy in the same way as for monetary policy, and correspondingly there is not the same need for institutional change” (European Commission, 1990: 21). They …Read More
Preparing the ground for countering fragmentation
Emmanoulidis, J., (2014), “Preparing the ground for countering fragmentation”, Bepa Monthly Brief, December 2013-January 2014, Issue 70. 2014 is a year of transition with an uncertain outcome regarding the future steps of European integration. Following years of deep crisis, the new EU leadership and national capitals will together have to decide which way they want to go in the years to come. The outcome of this venture is unclear. But …Read More
EU Anti-Corruption Report
European Commission, (2014), “EU Anti-Corruption Report”, COM (2014) 38 final. Corruption continues to be a big challenge for Europe – a phenomenon that costs the EU economy around 120 billion euros per year. Europeans are deeply worried about corruption – 76% of them believe that corruption is widespread according to a recent Eurobarometer survey.
Labour market risks and political preferences: The case of temporary employment
Marx, P., (2014), “Labour market risks and political preferences: The case of temporary employment”, European Journal of Political Research, Vol. 53, Issue 1, pp.136-159. The political economy literature has gathered compelling evidence that labour market risks shape political preferences. Accordingly, insecurity fuels support for redistribution and left parties. This article analyses this argument for temporary workers, a so far neglected risk category which has increased dramatically in the past two …Read More
Cut the Spending, Spare the Poor
Pisani-Ferry, J., (2014), “Cut the Spending, Spare the Poor”, www.project-syndicate.org, 30 January. Why do some governments spend more than others? The question is more complicated than it appears, especially in the case of European governments. The answer may look obvious when comparing, say, Denmark (where public spending, excluding interest payments on debt, amounted to 58% of GDP in 2012) and the United States (where the same number was 35%). Extensive …Read More