We test whether the sharp increase in sovereign spreads of euro area countries with respect to Germany after the explosion of the Greek crisis was due to deteriorating macroeconomic and fiscal fundamentals or to some form of financial contagion. Our analysis includes indicators of domestic and...

The volume collects the essays presented at the 15th Workshop on Public Finance organised by Banca d'Italia in Perugia from 4 to 6 April 2013. The workshop focused on the link between fiscal policy and macroeconomic imbalances and comprised four sessions. The first session concentrated on the...

This paper examines the information-related problems associated with the analysis of fiscal policies, an issue recently analyzed in connection with monetary policies but largely ignored in the literature on budgetary actions. The results indicate that reliance on the information actually...

We examine the impact of four factors on the fiscal policies of the euro-area countries over the last two decades: the state of public finances, the European fiscal rules, cyclical conditions and general elections. We rely on information actually available to policy-makers at the time of...

Whether discretionary fiscal policies in industrialized countries act counter- or pro-cyclically and whether their reaction is symmetric or asymmetric over the cycle are still largely unsettled questions. This uncertainty remains even when attention is restricted to euro-area countries, where...

The paper provides an evaluation of the redistribution effects stemming from the changes to the personal income tax introduced in the last decade. The analysis confirms that between 1989 and 2001 the net average tax rate increased for all taxpayers and, above all, for one-earner couples. The...

Rainy Day Funds (RDFs) have an important role in the USA. They allow States � which usually have rules requiring a balanced budget for current revenue and spending � to limit procyclical fiscal policies. This paper examines the possible role of RDFs in the European fiscal framework....

The reliability of EMU�s fiscal indicators has been questioned by recent episodes of large upward deficit revisions. This paper discusses the causes of such revisions in order to identify ways to improve monitoring. The computation of EMU�s deficit indicator involves the assessment of...

The paper examines the development of Italy�s public finances after the consolidation period 1992-97, which secured participation in the European Monetary Union from the outset. The �structural� developments in the main budgetary components are assessed, excluding the effects of...

This paper evaluates the macroeconomic effects of simultaneously implementing fiscal consolidation and competition-friendly reforms in a country of the euro area by simulating a large-scale dynamic general equilibrium model. We find, first, that the joint implementation of reforms has additional...