The outlook for two of the euro areaÂ?s best performing economies to date, Ireland and Spain, has darkened dramatically recently amid severe downturns in housing markets. What do these countriesÂ? experiences tell us about the functioning of EMU? BruegelÂ?s new policy brief Â?A Tail of Two...

Governance of the global economy is becoming a pressing matter and the situation is compounded by the growing number and diversity of players in the global economy. The authors argue that Europe is now in a position to take a leading role. Not only is it in Europeâ??s interest to reform the...

Increasing nervousness in world financial markets give new relevance to the long-standing issues of global current account adjustment. It reminds policymakers that this adjustment, if improperly managed, could lead to further drops in assets prices, disruptions in the global trading system, and...

Alan Ahearne, Jean Pisani-Ferry, André Sapir and Nicolas Véron contributed this paper to the project "Globalisation challenges for Europe and Finland" organised for the secretariat of the Economic Council of Finland. The project is part of Finland's EU Presidency programme and its objective is...

Alan Ahearne and Jürgen von Hagen explore the options European policy makers have in the context of global current account imbalances. Some Europeans are concerned that a disproportionately large burden of adjustment will fall on Europe when the European economy is not flexible enough to cope...

This report surveys the economic performance of the euro area and gives recommendations about six policy challenges of major importance for the future of EMU.

Alan Ahearne and Jürgen von Hagen examine one of the most alarming global economic developments in recent years- the evolution of global current account imbalances and its implications for European policy.

At a time of symmetric global slowdown, migration cannot contribute as much to absorbing economic shocks as it could if the shock were asymmetric. Early evidence suggests that the crisis has led to a drop in immigration and even net return migration from some countries. This has helped the...

The euro area faces a double challenge: debt overhang and the need for price adjustment. This paper reviews the debt challenges in the household and corporate sectors and maps out some policy options. In particular, we document the increase in private debt prior to the crisis and consider how...

Alan Ahearne and Jean Pisani-Ferry explore the implications of economic divergence in the euro area for policy makers, as well as the discipline required to be part of the single currency. From this analysis they derive policy recommendations, both for the policies and monitoring of existing...