Disturbances in international financial markets have added to the momentum of structural adjustment of national banking systems. With financial transactions becoming more and more concentrated in large universal banks, the smaller institutions specializing by tradition in particular groups of...

As from 2010, as a consequence of the international financial market crisis, a number of countries which had been struggling with budget deficits and high public debt already before the crisis were unable to obtain market financing at viable conditions. In Europe, many highly-indebted countries...

Measures on the revenue side of the budget could raise a total of between € 10 billion and 28 billion, of which € 2.4 billion would originate from taxes and levies and the rest would be privatisation proceeds. The first choice would be slashing tax exemptions: an increase of excises on the...