The cyclically-adjusted budget balance (CAB) is the backbone of the EU framework of fiscal surveillance, both in its preventive and corrective arms. The concept corresponds to the budget balance prevailing if the economy was running at potential. After correcting for the one-off and temporary...

The introduction of the euro was the world's largest economic ‘experiment.' This experiment opens the door to a major advance in our understanding of how a  common currency affects economic activity. When it comes to the euro's trade effects the first contribution of this report is to...

The current debate in corporate taxation is focussing on leveling the tax playing field within the European Union in order to allow companies incorporated in different countries to face the same competitive conditions. However, various elements of corporate tax rules may discriminate against...

This paper argues that ECB credibility in delivering price stability is being progressively eroded; this problem could be overcome by embracing greater transparency especially about the ECB's objectives, macroeconomic forecasts and decision-making. During the ECB's first decade, average...

This paper analyses non-Keynesian effects in fiscal consolidations in the EU. The analysis is carried out both ex-post, i.e. by looking at the emergence of expansionary consolidations in the past and at their characteristics, and ex-ante, i.e. by simulating with the European Commission QUEST...

We find that the United States in the 1950s and 1960s was characterized by strong "catch-up growth" in the south with capital owing from rich northern states to poorer southern states - consistent with the predictions of the simple neoclassical model. After the 1970s, "catch-up growth" is mainly...

There is a broad consensus among economists that the increased interdependence that comes from sharing a common currency and a single monetary policy justifies some degree of economic policy coordination between euro area Member States. However, empirical studies have, thus far, offered...

Economic integration in Europe has not led to a ‘race to the bottom' regarding corporate income taxes. This paper documents trends in the foreign ownership of companies in Europe and it examines whether foreign ownership has exerted a positive influence on corporate income tax levels....

The 1990s witnessed some important shifts in the underlying growth performances of the EU and US economies, with a significant gap opening up in terms of GDP, and more importantly, GDP per capita, growth rates. From a situation over the period 1980-1995 when EU and US living standards were...

The fiscal theory of the price level has challenged the conventional view of that monetary factors drive prices and exchange rates and has also provided a rationale for fiscal restrictions in a monetary union. This paper extends the main results of this theory in the context of an open monetary...