This paper applies 'Business Cycle Accounting' methodology introduced by Chari, Kehoe and McGrattan (2002a) to the UK economy. In particular, I examine the cyclical episode from 1979 to 1989. The chosen method enables me to decompose fluctuations in aggregates to isolate the effects...

We study the underground economy in a dynamic and stochastic general equilibrium framework. Our model combines limited tax enforcement with an otherwise standard two-sector neoclassical stochastic growth model. The Bayesian estimation of the model based on Italian data provides evidence in favor...

In Portugal, as in most other European Union (EU) countries, the challenge of Economic and Monetary Union (EMU) has worked as a mechanism for economic stabilisation. However, the political consensus on the participation in EMU did not develop with respect to the need for implementing structural...

Switzerland has had a long-standing surplus on its current account. But over the past 15 years that surplus has surged to levels unmatched by nearly any other OECD country at any point. This paper looks at the surplus from a balance of payments vantage point as well as from the optic of the...

The year 2003 has witnessed several major reform policy initiatives in Germany intended to contribute to a solution to Germany's high unemployment problem and to improve the longrun sustainability of its social welfare policies. These economic reforms are discussed within a larger macroeconomic...

This paper draws out lessons from Ireland´s economic experience over the course of EU membership. The author starts with a description of the effects of opening up to free trade, and highlights the problems of the 1970s and 1980s that arose as a consequence of misguided fiscal policy. He then...

The Europe 2020 strategy, as adopted by the European Council on June 17, 2010, provides the new framework for the EU’s growth and employment policy. Under the new strategy, measures and reforms should be geared toward smart, sustainable and inclusive growth. The design of the new strategy was...

The year 2000 was exceptionally good for the transition countries. The region as a whole expanded faster than the world economy average. However, the favourable external climate has started to deteriorate rapidly and especially the current pronounced weakening of the EU economy is worrying. The...

This paper provides an overview of the evolution of interregional income disparities among 304 regions from 27 OECD countries between 1995 and 2005. This sample of regions allows to compare interregional income inequality in different economic integration systems: the USA (used as an example of...

Ireland's economic development since the late 1980s has been remarkable: From languishing at the bottom of the EU to one of the top spots in income capita. It is thus not strange that the Irish "miracle" has attracted much attention among the New Member States in Eastern Europe. Some...