Since the financial crisis in 2008-09, concern over the sustainability of some EU countries’ sovereign debt has continued to mount higher and higher. This paper explores the ways in which the financial crisis caused the deterioration of European debt-to-GDP ratios, examines which countries are...

The Swiss debt brake served as a model for the new German budget rule. The two tools share the long-term goal of rendering fiscal policy sustainable by stabilising nominal debt as well as the short-term goal of smoothing the economic cycle. Debt brakes thus act as an automatic stabiliser within...

This paper reviews the novel policy measures developed by the EU to deal with insolvent member states and assesses their impact on Greece's political economy. Greece represents a major test case as a recipient of two bailout loans plus debt relief from private creditors. The paper examines the...