We construct a comprehensive public sector balance sheet for Finland from 2000 to 2016 by complementing general government statistics with data on public corporations and public pensions. We show that exposure to valuation changes in equity markets through asset holdings and increases in pension...

This paper analyses the potential of a European Debt Agency (EDA) as an efficient debt management institution for the Euro area. The simulation of prices and quantities that would have been observed in a scenario with an operational EDA illustrates that there have been fluctuations in bond...

The urgency and costs of global warming and climate change are clear. Given the lack of movement by world governments, local authorities, and civil society institutions like co-operatives must takethe lead. Credit Unions are particularly well placed in this regard. While the potential range of...

This paper revisits the stabilization role of public banks and analyzes whether weak public finances may hinder this role. During the global financial crisis (GFC), public banks were widely used to counter the private credit crunch and prop up the economy. Using cross-country bank-level data for...

German Abstract: In der Folge der Corona-Krise werden die Staatsschulden der Eurozone 12 Billionen EUR erreichen. Ein Fünftel davon hält das System der europäischen Zentralbanken (ESZB). Um die Schuldenlast erträglich zu machen, sollte nicht auf eine Perpetuierung der Schulden gesetzt,...

The COVID-19 lockdowns have brought about the need of large fiscal responses in all European countries. However, countries across Europe are differently equipped to respond to the shock due to differences in economic conditions and fiscal space. We build on the model by Berger et al. (2019) to...

Natural disasters have caused, and continue to cause, a significant amount of economic costs. The costs of disasters are often, and to a large extent, shouldered by governments, especially in economies where private insurance markets are not well developed. Governments are asked to provide...

We propose a simple model that captures the link between bank and sovereign credit risk. It allows evaluating policy options to address this 'doom loop' in which the government may need to raise debt to recapitalise banks, and an increase in government debt raises sovereign risk and in turn...

Die guten ökonomischen Rahmenbedingungen eröffnen aktuell die Möglichkeit, aufgelaufene Schuldenprobleme der öffentlichen Haushalte anzugehen. Zur Debatte steht dabei insbesondere, kommunale Kassenkredite in einen Altschuldenfonds zu überführen. Ziel der Ausgestaltung sollte es sein, die...

In this study, we show that the main problem facing the Eurozone economy is the relatively low competitiveness of the PIIGS economies. Findings show that the defining trait of PIIGS countries is neither budget deficits, nor public debt, but rather the current account deficits. We argue that,...