The study looks at primary expenditure developments in the euro area, its three largest members and four "macro …-imbalances" countries for the period 1999-2009. It compares actual expenditure trends with those that would have prevailed if countries had … followed neutral policies based on expenditure rules since the start of EMU. It also calculates the implications for debt …

identify also the distortions induced by public expenditure in the private factors allocation. In particular, we detect a …. We also associate a significant dependence of productivity on public expenditure on education as well as the role of …