Spending elasticities measure the reaction of different government spending components to the business cycle. They are important inputs for fiscal forecasts, and they are particularly relevant in the context of European Union (EU) fiscal rules, as elasticity estimates enter the estimation of...

Ausgabenelastizitäten messen die Reaktion der verschiedenen Komponenten der Staatsausgaben auf den Konjunkturzyklus. Sie sind wichtige Inputs für fiskalische Prognosen und sind im Kontext der Fiskalregeln relevant, da Elastizitätsschätzungen in die Bestimmung des fiskalischen Spielraums...

This paper analyses deviations from full employment in EU countries, compared with the US and the UK. We apply the Beveridge (full-employment-consistent) rate of unemployment (BECRU), derived from the unemployment-vacancies relationship. The BECRU is the level of unemployment that minimises the...

This paper analyses the short-run effects of fiscal consolidation measures on economic activity in the euro area during the euro crisis. It presents new econometric estimates on the link between cumulative GDP growth and fiscal austerity measures during 2011-2013. The main empirical finding is...

Rezension von: Barry Eichengreen, Die grossen Crashs 1929 und 2008. Warum sich Geschichte wiederholt, FinanzBuch Verlag, Muenchen 2015, 560 Seiten; ISBN 978-3-89879-890-7.

This paper analyzes the determinants of the European Commission's NAIRU estimates for 14 European OECD countries during 1985-2012. The NAIRU is a poor proxy for 'structural unemployment': Labor market institutions - employment protection legislation, union density, tax wedge, minimum wages -...

Rezension von Galbraith, James, The End of Normal. The Great Crisis and the Future of Growth, Simon and Schuster, New York 2014, 291 Seiten; ISBN 978-1451644920

This paper analyzes the performative impact of the European Commission's model for estimating 'potential output', which is used as a yardstick for measuring the 'structural budget balance' of EU countries and, hence, is crucial for coordinating European fiscal policies. In pre-crisis years,...

While the development of scientific theories and measurement concepts has always been strongly intertwined, model-based measurements, specified as parameters in a statistical model, have been receiving increasing attention over the last decades. In this paper, we analyze the ontological and...

This paper analyzes the impact of economic ideas on political processes and decision-making by focusing on the role and impact of the European Commission's "potential output model". The potential output model represents a core pillar in European fiscal policy coordination, that is, in executing...