Europe's banking system has been in a state of systemic fragility since 2007-08. The current phase is marked by a sequence of interactions between sovereign problems and banking problems, resulting in gradual contagion to more countriesand more asset classes. The banking and sovereign crises are...

Five years after the first tremors in Europe's banking system, what makes the crisis unique is the absence of a democratically accountable decision-making framework; there is an 'executive deficit' that compounds Europe's democratic deficit. The author argues that the only way to resolve the...

The European Systemic Risk Board (ESRB) and the proposed prevention and correction of macroeconomic imbalances regulation (EIP) are designed to avoid imbalances. However, these instruments overlap, and need clarification. Both the ESRB and the Commission, which is given certain powers by the...

Untersucht wird das Zusammenspiel von Angebot und Nachfrage im Rahmen von Wachstumsprozessen. Es wird gezeigt, dass auch unter klassischen, auf dem Tausch basierenden Annahmen die Wirtschaftsentwicklung durch die Nachfrage maßgeblich beeinflusst wird. Wachstum setzt die Bereitschaft der...

Die internationale Finanzmarktkrise hat sich zu einer Weltwirtschaftskrise ungeahnten Ausmaßes entwickelt. Was im Jahr 2007 in den USA als Subprimekrise begann, weitete sich innerhalb kürzester Zeit zu einer globalen Krise aus, bei der es sich um die bedeutendste Krise seit der letzten...

Vermehrte öffentliche Investitionen in Bildung, Infrastruktur und ökologische Erneuerung sind in Deutschland nicht nur dringend erforderlich, sondern können zudem den schwachen privaten Investitionen Antrieb verleihen. Zwar verringert sich der Überschuss der öffentlichen Haushalte durch die...

This paper aims to assess whether the implementation of the European Union (EU) framework of fiscal rules has been successful in promoting budgetary consolidation in EU Member States. The paper focuses on the period 1991-2002. Stylised facts show that Member States implemented major budgetary...

Fiscal rules are instrumental for restraining deficit and spending biases in euro area Member States that could threaten the smooth functioning of Economic and Monetary Union (EMU). Ideally, fiscal rules should combine characteristics such as sufficient flexibility to allow for appropriate...

This paper presents a survey of methods for assessing fiscal soundness, i.e. the capability of governments to honour their obligations in the short run and in the long run. The need for a comprehensive monitoring of fiscal soundness derives from the risks to economic stability that arise from...