The international monitoring of public finances in EMU member states is an essential element of the Stability and Growth Pact. Part of evaluating government budgets involves determining the sustainability of the envisaged consolidation measures. The academic and political debate on this topic...

Die öffentlichen Haushalte auf allen Ebenen der Bundesrepublik Deutschland befinden sich in einer langfristig angelegten, strukturellen Krise. Die Diskrepanzen zwischen den als unabweisbar angesehenen Finanzbedarfen und den Möglichkeiten der Einnahmenerzielung wachsen ständig. Die Folge ist...

Most EU member states will adopt fiscal rules that refer to cyclically-adjusted borrowing limits. Under the standard cyclical adjustment procedure, trend increases in public debt based on cyclical components are prevented if the real-time output gaps used to calculate cyclical components balance...