The purported advantages of corona bonds over the ESM are meagre to non-existent, says Friedrich Heinemann (EconPol Europe, ZEW). The challenge we face is to contain the spread of COVID-19 while stabilising the economy and ensuring eurozone states have sufficient liquidity and the ESM is a...

Extensive prior research on the economics of European monetary union highlighted some potential risks (the known unknowns) but overlooked others (the unknown unknowns). Asymmetries among participating countries, the potentially destabilising character of a one-size-fits all monetary policy, the...

Der Umgang mit den Schuldenkrisen in einigen Euroländern steht derzeit ganz oben auf er Tagesordnung der EWU-Gremien. Der Rettungsschirm zur aktuellen Krisenbewältigung ist allerdings bis 2013 befristet. Danach sollte ein dauerhafter Krisenpräventions- und Krisenmanagementmechanismus...

Begriffe wie Staatsbankrott, spekulative Attacke und Gefährdung des Euro werden im Zusammenhang mit den offensichtlichen Schuldenproblemen einiger Euroländer genannt. Sie sind aber ungenau. Für eine Analyse möglicher Wirkungen des EU/IWF-Rettungsschirms und dessen aktuell diskutierter...

In the discussions of the need for fiscal rules and their usefulness in a monetary union researchers have not agreed on whether the financial markets have a sufficiently disciplining effect on the governments, which would mean that the fiscal rules are not necessary. This paper investigates...

The paper proposes a theoretical analysis illustrating some key policy trade-offs involved in the implementation of a rules-based fiscal framework reminiscent of the Stability and Growth Pact (SGP). The analysis offers some insights on the current debate about the SGP. Specifically, greater...

In this paper I evaluate the usefulness of a set of fiscal indicators as early-warning-signal tools for annual General Government Net Lending developments for some EMU countries (Belgium, Germany, Spain, France, Italy, The Netherlands, Ireland, Austria, Finland) and an EMU aggregate. The...