In the European Union, the creation of public debt statistics starts with member state governments' reports. The EU's statistical agency-Eurostat-then revises. How do these actors' incentives shape reported numbers? Governments have incentives to take a more favourable view of often ambiguous...

The authors analyse 149 newly compiled monthly time series on financial market stress conditions in the euro area. With the aid of a factor model they find different sources of financial stress that are important for selecting and preparing the appropriate policy response. The existence of a...