A ‘sudden stop’ to (private) capital inflows is usually very disruptive to an economy because it forces an almost immediate reversal in the current account unless the country in question receives substantial balance of payments assistance. The analysis presented in this paper starts from the...

This paper uses the European Commission’s QUEST macroeconomic model to analyse the impact of structural reforms on economic activity in an environment in which the zero bound on monetary policy rates is temporarily binding. The simulations suggest that although such reforms can have a negative...

The Netherlands is almost a textbook-case of an open economy that is highly integrated in the world economy in terms of both financial flows and trade. Its current account has been persistently in surplus for over three decades and the surplus is one of the highest as in percentage of GDP of the...

This paper presents a DSGE model with residential investment and credit-constrained households estimated with US data over the period 1980Q1-2008Q4. In order to better understand speculative movements of house prices, we model land as an exhaustible resource, implying that house prices have...

This paper uses a semi-endogenous growth model to identify possible sources for three interrelated stylised differences between the EU and the US, namely a higher level of productivity and knowledge investment and larger skill premia in the US compared to the EU. The model allows us to explain...

The report provides a comprehensive analysis of Europe-East Asia interdependences (in terms of relative economic weights, trade and financial integration, trade and financial flows, exchange rate and wealth transfers). The prime motivation of the paper is that linkages between Europe and East...

This paper presents an indicator of the fiscal stance that combines features of the bottom-up, narrative approach on the revenue side with a refined version of the top-down, traditional approach of the structural balance on the expenditure side. With these characteristics the indicator offers an...

This paper discusses the balance between market pressure and fiscal rules in order to keep public finances on a sustainable path. We provide empirical evidence on market assessments of sovereign default risk to economic news, announcements of national austerity programs, EU programs designed to...

The strengthening of national fiscal frameworks, including numerical fiscal rules, has recently been proposed as an important part of the economic governance reform package for the EU. The strength of numerical fiscal rules can be described along the dimensions of their statutory base, the room...

Fiscal indicators are the backbone of effective fiscal policy-making, including the coordination and surveillance of budgetary policy at the EU level. The quality and success of the EU surveillance framework, in particular the timeliness and appropriateness of any policy recommendation or...