This note proposes a research agenda for studying the implications of enhanced capital mobility and limited de facto exchange rate flexibility for the conduct of macroeconomic stabilization. The ineffectiveness of monetary policy under such conditions suggests a greater role for fiscal policy as...

This paper studies the optimal level of discretion in policymaking. We consider a fiscal policy model where the government has time-inconsistent preferences with a present-bias towards public spending. The government chooses a fiscal rule to trade off its desire to commit to not overspend...

In this paper we present a model of flexicurity capitalism that exhibits a second labor market with the government as an employer of first resort, where all workers not employed by firms in the private sector find meaningful employment. We show that the model exhibits a unique interior steady...

To reinforce ex ante coordination of EU Member States’ economic and fiscal policies, a new monitoring cycle has been introduced: the “European semester” – a six-month period every year during which national budgetary and structural policies will be reviewed to detect any inconsistences...

The Greek parliamentary elections in January .2015 led to a foreseeable change in government. The coalition government between the conservative Nea Dimokratia and of the socialist PASOK, become replaced. by a coalition government between the left wing coalition party SYRIZA and the extreme...

Troika economics has brought Greece to a serious depression at a zero lower bound, with near unlimited supply of labor and near unlimited demand for money. In this paper, it is argued that these circumstances dictate to Greece the implementation individually of a long-term self-financing...

This paper presents instrumental variables estimates of the effects of GDP per capita volatility on the size of government. We show that for a panel of 157 countries spanning more than half a century, rainfall volatility has a significant positive effect on GDP per capita volatility in countries...

In parliamentary demacracies, fiscal policies may be threatened by the unexpected termination of government tenure or by strong budget procedures. Our model implies that electoral rule and the type of the budgetary process help explain some of the striking differences observed in public finance...

The Soviet Union and the nations of Eastern Europe are undergoing a historically unprecedented restructuring as they move inexorably from centrally planned economies toward market economies. This historic transition must be guided by a coherent set of stabilization policies to reduce the threat...

This paper examines the question of whether a communist nation, characterized by state ownership of the means of production and a centrally planned command system of allocation can be transformed into an efficient market oriented economy without fully compromising the socialist ideals of an...