Authors of the Report on the European Economy 2008

Authors of the Report on the European Economy 2004

Merger activity is gathering pace in Europe. The policy challenge lies in how to achieve cost-cutting increases in firm size from restructuring in the face of globalisation, while simultaneously maintaining sufficient competition. This requires that obstacles to hostile and cross-border mergers...

A crucial issue for macro developments in Europe is how large and persistent the depreciation of the US dollar against the euro will be. This chapter offers an in-depth analysis of this.

The economic recovery in Europe is expected to continue. GDP in the euro area is forecasted to grow by 2.0 per cent in 2006, remaining lower than in most other parts of the world. Inflation in the euro area is expected to reach 1.9 per cent this year. The labour market situation will only...

This chapter analyses current pay-setting arrangements in Europe as well as the prospect of reform. It reviews the positive experience of many small European countries that have achieved real wage moderation through co-ordinated collective bargaining as well as the experience of countries where...

This chapter argues against using industrial policy to protect European firms from international competition because of the long-run costs that are likely to arise. Industrial policy should be horizontal rather than sector-based and it should be located mainly at the regional and EU level, but...

This chapter reviews some aspects of the new draft constitution for the European Union, pointing to possible undesirable consequences from including non-discrimination as a general rule in the European constitution.