Explanations of the large current account deficits for the euro area periphery and the Baltics in the run up to the crisis revolve around two main factors: deteriorating export performance or demand driven booms. We add that there were important movements in transfers and net income balances....

Sixteen countries across the world ¡ª including the United States and many European nations ¡ª have fallen into economic crises since the late 1990s. In <em>The Limits of Fiscal, Monetary, and Trade Policies: International Comparisons and Solutions</em>, Jonathan E Leightner convincingly argues that...

The European welfare regimes face two sets of challenges. One internal, specific for the welfare state itself, and the other external, imposed by changing economic, political and economics conditions. The first challenge lies in the growing gap between the rigid welfare state design and flexible...