The paper evaluates the key drivers of fiscal crises in a sample of countries from all three income groups—advanced, emerging, and low-income countries, using fiscal crisis data recently developed by the IMF’s Fiscal Affairs Department. The empirical study focuses on three questions: (1) How...

Why, since the mid-1980s, have so many European governments decided fiscally to support the development of private retirement savings accounts? Whereas analysts of pension reform in affluent democracies have traditionally considered the development of private pensions as a secondary outcome of...

All explorations of the future of the Euro show serious risks for its survival in the present form. The road map of the Five EU Presidents presented in 2015 is far from sufficient to reduce the risks of the Euro zone falling apart by Brexit type developments or new economic shocks. The EU...

All explorations of the future of the Euro show serious risks for its survival in the present form. The road map of the Five EU Presidents presented in 2015 is far from sufficient to reduce the risks of the Euro zone falling apart by Brexit type developments or new economic shocks. The EU...

China is well-placed to avoid the so-called “middle-income trap” and to continue to converge towards the more advanced economies, even though growth is likely to slow from near double-digit rates in the first decade of this millennium to around 7% at the 2020 horizon. However, in order to...

China is well-placed to avoid the so-called “middle-income trap” and to continue to converge towards the more advanced economies, even though growth is likely to slow from near double-digit rates in the first decade of this millennium to around 7% at the 2020 horizon. However, in order to...

Deutschlands Zukunftsfähigkeit ist im internationalen Vergleich erkennbar zurückgefallen. Zentrale Ursache ist die Schwäche des Private Equity Kapitalmarkts. Der Handlungsbedarf lässt sich klar definieren, diese Schwäche zu beseitigen. Es bedarf nur politischer Akteure, die sich diesen...

The debate over legal requirements of a balanced federal budget has gained new life. A requirement would have strong implications for future fiscal policy. Done right, a requirement will allow Congress to combine a balanced budget with policy goals such as growth and full employment. Done wrong,...

The financial impact of the global crisis on Latin America has in some respects been less severe than in previous crises. This reflects in part the development of domestic bond markets and improved net balance sheet positions of the economies, which for a period have allowed gross capital inflow...

The financial impact of the global crisis on Latin America has in some respects been less severe than in previous crises. This reflects in part the development of domestic bond markets and improved net balance sheet positions of the economies, which have allowed gross capital inflow reversals to...