Fiscally, the Eurozone is far from implosion. On average, public debt remains absolutely manageable. The political implications of the debt blame-game are more worrying, argues Rainer Voss.
‘Tis this time of the year again: time for school reports! This means, it’s time for ‘blue letters’ to those who haven’t done their homework – or rather their household chores. Not at […]
A common criticism of Germany in the post-crisis period has been that its economy is unbalanced, with the country’s reluctance to increase public spending or reduce its large current account surplus being cited as problems for other Eurozone economies. Donato Di Carlo argues that this narrative entirely overlooks the extent to which the German economy has already gone through a […]
Dustin Voss of the London School of Economics reviews the European Central Bank’s recent policy reactions to Italy’s government building process. He argues that the glorified imagination of politically neutral central bankers is nothing more than wishful thinking. In fact, it becomes increasingly obvious that the ECB tends to openly embrace punishment by the markets if it is in […]
How the Eurozone will be governed in the future is a matter of much debate and is expected to form a key part of the European Council meeting on 28-29 June. Kevin Featherstone argues that the debate is neglecting a key set of questions: how can its governance be made more democratic and accountable? The answers to these questions will likely […]
Bob Hancké of the LSE examines the history of a dangerous idea – Ordoliberalism, or the belief that balanced budgets produce growth
At what was probably the most unpropitious moment in recent economic history to make the claim, US President Richard Nixon declared that we ‘are all Keynesians now’. In his view, the key problem of macroeconomic management, namely how […]
Steve Coulter of the European Trade Union Institute cautions that improving growth figures in the European Union mask widening regional disparities in GDP per head and real wages, while many of the jobs that have been created are part time and/or precarious. Action to sustain the modest recovery and share out its spoils should go beyond sustaining demand – […]
Martin Myant of the European Trade Union Institute presents evidence from a new book analysing national responses to the eurozone crisis which shows that the European Commission’s gauge of competitiveness – Unit Labour Costs – was the wrong measure and contributed to disastrous policies which deepened the recession. The solution, he says, is to focus on improving competitiveness by […]
Gabriele Piazza and Martin Myant of the European Trade Union Institute criticise recent labour market reforms in Italy which aim to tackle unemployment by cutting protection for workers on permanent contracts. There is no evidence that this works, and Italy would be better off addressing structural problems in the Italian economy
In June 2012 Italy introduced a package of labour-market […]
Yiannis Korkovelos argues that there are advantages for creditor countries in keeping Greece in the eurozone; while Greece, in turn, should bring forward courageous reforms with Mr Tsipras having the opportunity to be remembered as a moderniser After more than 17 hours of negotiations, white smoke has come out of the EU Summit. The marathon summit has resulted in a […]
Alexis Tsipras, the Greek Prime Minister, has rebuffed suggestions that bailout money going to Greece is being spent on pensions and salaries. In a comment piece for the German news magazine, Der Tagesspiegel (read it here in English on the EurActiv blog), Tsipras says that the assumption that Germany is paying for the wages and pensions of the Greek […]
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