Weltweit werden etwa 3 Billionen US-Dollar staatlicher Hilfen ausgegeben, um den Absturz der Weltwirtschaft abzubremsen. Dieser Nachfrageschub von 4,7 Prozent des Welteinkommens hat zuallererst die Aufgabe, die Spirale gestrichener Investitionspläne, reduzierter Produktion, gesunkener...

This paper analyzes the effectiveness of the tax and transfer systems in the European Union and the US to act as an automatic stabilizer in the current economic crisis. We find that automatic stabilizers absorb 38 per cent of a proportional income shock in the EU, compared to 32 per cent in the...

Ever since its inception EMU has been subject to controversy. The fiscal policy rules embedded in the Treaty on European Union, and clarified in the Stability and Growth Pact (SGP), are probably the most contentious. The SGP is being accused of being too rigid and of forcing pro-cyclicality in...

Policymakers in the EU member states are currently shaping rescue packages to prevent the financial crisis hitting their economies with unmitigated force. Each government is responding to the emerging problems with a country-specific set of measures. Given the global nature of the crisis, would...