The availability of timely and reliable information on main macroeconomic variables is considered both by policy makers and analysts crucial for an effective process of decision making. Unfortunately official statistics cannot always meet adequately users' needs, especially concerning their...

As sociedades europeias são baseadas num compromisso entre, por um lado, o capitalismo, a propriedade privada e as forças do mercado e, por outro, o socialismo, a redistribuição e a produção pública. Uma parte importante das despesas das famílias é pública (educação, saúde); certos...

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‘Social Europe’ has various meanings. It may refer to the current intervention of European authorities in the fields of social protection and employment legislation, as a complement or sometimes as a substitute to national institutions interventions. The role of European authorities is...

General public debates on international relocation in the EU-15 generally focus on the process in its narrow sense: a company closing a plant in one of EU-15 countries while simultaneously opening a plant in a low-wage emerging country where it will produce goods at lower costs to be offered on...

The 10th EUROFRAME1 Conference on economic policy issues in the European Union was held in Warsaw on 24 May 2013. The Conference topic was: “Towards a better governance in the EU?”. Twelve of the papers given at the Conference are released in this issue of the Revue de l’OFCE/Debates and...

This paper presents a critical assessment of the Stability and Growth Pact (SGP). Section 2 recalls the fiscal policy framework in the euro area. Section 3 provides an assessment of the first five years of the SGP. Section 4 addresses the weaknesses of the procedures: arbitrary criteria,...

The September 11th attacks on the United States and the consequent combat against international terrorism have clouded the short-term outlook for the world economy. World economic growth had already slowed considerably from the final quarter of last year. This was in part the consequence of past...

Prospects for the European Union and the Euro Area look sound, but there is a risk of a significant slowdown in the US. Central banks in the European Union should stand ready to offset any deflationary impacts from abroad. The appreciation of the euro and lower oil prices should help moderate...

The economic crisis which started in 2008 led to a strong rise in public debts. The sovereign debt crisis in euro area southern countries broke the unity of the euro area and weakened the “single currency” concept. The paper shows that this situation is not due to a lack of fiscal discipline...