Following the COVID-19 outbreak in Europe this spring and subsequent measures to contain the pandemic, the European Commission drastically revised its economic and fiscal forecasts. The Summer 2020 Economic Forecast projects that the euro area economy will contract by 8.7% in 2020. The...

Die Corona-Pandemie trifft die Welt mit multiplen Angebots- und Nachfrageschocks zugleich. Das gab es in dieser Breite, Heftigkeit und Schnelligkeit noch nie. Eine schnelle Rückkehr auf die vorherigen Wachstumsspuren ist in allen Weltregionen nicht zu erwarten. Im Jahr 2020 wird die globale...

The only way to share common liabilities in the Eurozone is to achieve full fiscal and political union, i.e. unity of liability and control. In the pursuit of that goal, there is a need to smooth the transition, avoid unnecessary strains to macroeconomic and financial stability and lighten the...

EU fiscal rules are meant to keep public finances on a sustainable path. This paper presents a new database that tracks numerical compliance with the four main rules of the Stability and Growth Pact starting in 1998. Our assessment of numerical compliance abstracts from the many exceptions and...