This paper investigates the relationship between the magnitude of automatic stabilizers in the tax and transfer systems of 19 EU countries and the US, and discretionary fiscal stimulus packages passed by these countries during the recent economic crisis. In particular, we ask whether countries...

At the beginning of June 2020, the German government launched a comprehensive economic stimulus package to promote economic recovery. With a volume of EUR 130 billion, this program far outstrips programs launched in the wake of the financial and economic crisis of 2008/09. We present the fiscal...