Two of the four macroeconomic adjustment programmes, Portugal and Ireland’s, can be considered a success in the sense that the initial expectations in terms of adjustment, both fiscal and external, were broadly fulfilled. A rebound based on exports has taken hold in these two countries, but a...

Low international competitiveness of a set of euro area countries, which have become evident by large current account deficits and rising risk premiums on government bonds, is one of the most challenging economic policy issues for Europe. We analyse the role of private restructuring and public...

This paper reviews cases of successful price and wage adjustment, which are often regarded as constituting best practice, - Australia, Latvia and the German new states and contrasts them with the Greek experience under the Troika Programs. Latvia stands out as having had the quickest adjustment...

We scrutinize the role of capital flows in competitiveness in a set of seven euro-area member countries (Estonia, Greece, Latvia, Lithuania, Portugal, Slovenia, and the Slovak Republic) in the context of real convergence and crisis. A specific focus is on Greece. The paper extends the seminal...