This paper studies how the composition of fiscal adjustments influences their likelihood of quot;successquot;, defined as a long lasting deficit reduction, and their macroeconomic consequences. We find that fiscal adjustments which rely primarily on spending cuts on transfers and the government...

This paper proposes a signaling model that offers a new perspective on why governments deviate from optimal tax smoothing and delay debt stabilization. In our model, dependable - but not fully credible - governments have an incentive to tighten the fiscal regime when the signaling effect on...

This paper presents FIR-GEM: Fiscal IRish General Equilibrium Model. FIR-GEM is a small open economy DSGE model designed as fiscal toolkit for fiscal policy analysis in Ireland. To illustrate the model's potential for fiscal policy analysis, we conduct three types of experiments. First, we...

Ireland did not need to impose the level of fiscal austerity it did in order to recover after the global financial crisis. Ireland is not a poster child for austerity but rather a beautiful freak. Structurally, Ireland is not like the other peripheral economies that imposed austerity after 2008....

In this paper I focus on two specific hazard areas in the transition from Stage Two to Stage Three of European economic and monetary union (EMU), as well as on some key problems of Stage Three that EMU's monetary and fiscal structures appear ill-prepared to handle. The transitional hazards are...

This paper uses the recent controversy between the European Union and the Irish Republic to discuss the more general relation between the European Union, the EMU and the member countries. Despite outstanding economic growth and budget surpluses, Ireland has been criticized by the European...