Wolf, M., (2013), “We still need to learn the real lessons of the crisis”, The Financial Times, 19 December. The real work that needs to be done is finding ways to recover lost output and productivity. A passer-by sees a man looking under a lamppost and asks what he is trying to find. “My keys,” he replies. They look for a while but find nothing. The passer-by asks whether the …Read More

O’Sullivan, M., (2013), “Ireland’s Model Crisis”, Project Syndicate, 18 December. Ireland has now left the clutches of the bailout-for-austerity framework established by the Troika (the European Commission, the European Central Bank, and the International Monetary Fund) for indebted eurozone countries, and is leading the monetary union’s economic recovery. European policymakers, including Jean-Claude Trichet, the ECB’s former president, have suggested that Ireland’s dogged commitment to austerity is a model for others. …Read More

Crafts, N., (2013), “The Eurozone: If only it were the 1930s”, VoxEU, 13 December. This column argues that the legacy of public debt resulting from the crisis in the Eurozone is a serious threat. Both the size of the problem and the options to address it make life much more difficult for policymakers than was the case in the late 1930s after the collapse of the gold standard. For some …Read More

Mody, A., (2013), “The looming lost decade”, Bruegel, 18 December. As 2013 comes to an end, it looks like the world economy will remain stuck in low gear. For those reading the tea leaves of global recovery, the third-quarter GDP numbers offered no solace. While the United States is ahead of the pack, some of its gains could soon be lost, as accumulating inventories begin eroding profits. Despite glimmers of …Read More

Pissarides, C., (2013), “The Euro Should Be Growth Friendly or Be Dismantled”, Social Europe Journal, 16 December. Nobel laureate Christopher Pissarides was once a passionate believer in the benefits of European monetary union. In light of the damaging effects of the Eurozone crisis, he now writes that the euro requires urgent reforms to restore its credibility. He argues that the single currency should either be dismantled in an orderly way, …Read More

Eichengreen, B., (2013), “The ECB’s Bridge Too Far”, Project Syndicate, 10 December. Is Europe’s economic crisis mutating once again? If debt fears are now being superseded by the danger of deflation, as recent data suggest, the European Central Bank has its work cut out for it – and there is nothing to suggest that it is up to the task. The numbers are alarming. Core inflation (the consumer price index …Read More

Fatas, A., (2013), “Debt and secular stagnation”, Antonia Fatas on the Global Economy Blog, 10 December. In a recent post Paul Krugman refers to the potential link between rising levels of debt prior to the 2008 crisis and the current discussion on secular stagnation. The argument can be illustrated by the chart below (borrowed from Krugman’s post). Quoting from Krugman’s post: “Debt was rising by around 2 percent of GDP …Read More

Brousseau, V., Chailloux, A. and Durré, A., (2013), “The LIBOR scandal: What’s next ? A possible way forward”, VoxEU, 09 December. In the aftermath of the LIBOR scandal, it is important to re-establish a credible reference rate for the pricing of financial instruments and of wholesale and retail loans. The new candidate must meet the five criteria suggested by the Bank for International Settlements – reliability, robustness, frequency, availability, and …Read More