The Stability and Growth Pact (SGP) adopted in 1997 originally set budget balance as the medium-term objective (MTO) for all EU Member States, to create a safety margin under the 3% of GDP deficit ceiling. In a reform in 2005, MTOs were made country-specific and dependent on initial debt and the...

Cover pagesText AnnexesThe purpose of this paper is to analyse budgetary policies carried out during and after severe recessions. Since the agreement on the "Stability and Growth Pact" by the European Council in Dublin in December 1996, interest in this issue has increased significantly. The...

The report provides a comprehensive analysis of Europe-East Asia interdependences (in terms of relative economic weights, trade and financial integration, trade and financial flows, exchange rate and wealth transfers). The prime motivation of the paper is that linkages between Europe and East...

This paper analyses the demographic and institutional influences underlying public spending on education, as well as the consequences for average educational attainment and economic growth. The issues are topical given, on one hand, EU objectives for increased investment in human resources and,...

The aim of this paper is to assess the reliability of the government deficit and debt figures reported to the European Commission by Member States. Reliability is one of the several dimensions of quality in statistics; it refers to the magnitudes of data revisions after the publication of the...

The paper examines the causes of high regional unemployment in Germany, Spain and Italy, and identifies a number of areas where policy action is needed. Lower unemployment rates will not only depend on stability-oriented macroeconomic policies and a sufficiently flexible labour market, but also...

Has MERCOSUR's trade performance to date provided strong evidence that it has encouraged inefficient trade flows between its members? This paper evaluates the methodology suggested by Yeats (1997, 1998) to study trade flows within MERCOSUR. Yeats was motivated by the traditional concern of...

In November 2005, the U.S. President's Advisory Panel on Federal Tax Reform released a comprehensive Report titled “Simple, Fair, and Pro-Growth: Proposals to Fix America's Tax System.†The Report addressed all aspects of the federal income tax treatment of households and businesses...

This paper analyzes the effects of foreign direct investment on the sales growth rate of domestic companies in the Czech Republic. This paper analyzes the effects of foreign direct investment on the sales growth rate of domestic companies in the Czech Republic. Using firm-level panel data from...

This paper reviews the projections of the Economic Policy Committee and the European Commission on age-related expenditure carried out in 2005. It takes a closer look at the results of public pension expenditure projections with a view of analysing the timing of projected changes and the driving...