What is the current state of sovereign credit risk across Euro zone? Does the recent fiscal crisis extend to other (non Euro zone) countries? Is Greece the center of the problem? How did the current fiscal crisis in the Euro area start? Who is behind it? Why can it evolve? How can it be...

This paper examines the fiscal and monetary policy options available to China as a sovereign currency-issuing nation operating in a dollar standard world. We first summarize a number of issues facing China, including the possibility of slower growth, global imbalances, and a number of domestic...

This paper discusses major fiscal issues faced by the previously centrally planned economies in their transition to market economies. It focuses on three main topics: (a) the extent to which the budget deficit should be a guide to policy; (b) the reforms that must be carried out in tax...

In this paper we explore the impact of fiscal austerity on three different dimensions of public opinion (overall life satisfaction and confidence, attitude towards national authorities, and European institutions). Based on a panel of 26 EU countries, we find that, overall, fiscal consolidation...

Over the last few decades, real interest rates have trended downward in many countries. The most common explanation is that this reflects depressed demand due to demographic, technological and other real factors such as income inequality. In this paper we explore the claim that these trends may...

We develop the theory of price-level determination in a range of models using both ad hoc policy rules and jointly optimal monetary and fiscal policies and discuss empirical issues that arise when trying to identify monetary–fiscal regime. The chapter concludes with directions in which...

In 2010 the excessive public spending produced the first sovereign bond market crisis in Europe: Greece. The Hellenic crisis is the product of years of recession, of the sluggish economic environment and poor productivity – but above all it is the product of the mismanagement of the public...

The paper is devoted to an analysis of the Treaty on Stability Coordination and Governance (TSCG), also known as the "Fiscal Compact" Treaty signed between the EU member states in 2012. We argue than the TSCG, instead of helping to "repair" the institutional failures on which the Euro and the...

To enrich the debate about the fiscal effectiveness of sovereign wealth funds, this paper explores the effect of sovereign wealth funds (more precisely sovereign oil funds, SOFs) on the government spending in real term and as a share of GDP. First, we evaluate the relationship between the...

We continue to struggle with the legacy of the 2008 financial crisis, which was fundamentally caused by the incurrence of too much leverage on the part of all economic participants, including individuals, private firms and financial institutions, and governments. Despite continued high...