politics, economy and employment & labour
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Fiscal Money is the most suitable instrument – and perhaps the only one – to overcome Italy’s serious and enduring crisis. The Fiscal Money project can be implemented both in Italy and other Eurozone countries to exit the liquidity trap by increasing aggregate demand. It can also help tackle the weakness of the Italian banking […]
At a conference in Berlin on 29 June, the German Finance Minister, Wolfgang Schäuble, when asked about the situation of Deutsche Bank, said he was more concerned with the situation in Portugal. He added that if Portugal does not comply with EU budget rules, a new rescue program will be needed. It is not the […]
Over the last decade or so, productivity growth has slowed considerably in most major developed economies, even as impressive advances have been made in areas like computing, mobile telephony, and robotics. All of these advances ostensibly should have boosted productivity; and yet, in the United States, a world leader in technological innovation, business-sector labor productivity […]
Tony Atkinson, good morning and thank you very much for joining us today. Good morning. You have been working and researching the topic of inequality for a very long time and you’ve had eminent publications in the field. Just to get us going can you let us know again: what are the biggest problems with […]
My IMK colleagues Christoph Paetz, Katja Rietzler and Achim Truger have just issued an important analysis of experience with the German Schuldenbremse (debt brake) since 2011. If you read German I heartily recommend you to consult it. We will prepare an English translation, but given the importance of the debt brake for the fiscal policy discussion in Europe (and the […]
Joseph Stiglitz, American economist and winner of the Nobel Prize in Economics, has come out with a new book, The Euro: How a Common Currency Threatens the Future of Europe. In recent weeks Stiglitz has appeared in several features in the press, advocating «a smooth exit» from the euro. Still, he expects «the end of the single currency does […]
Joe Stiglitz, thank you very much for joining us today. Let’s dive in right at the deep end. People might be forgiven for not following the Eurozone crisis and the euro crisis too closely, and it’s been rumbling on for years. Just to get us started, what in your view are the key problems of […]
It is widely agreed that globalisation has brought immense benefits. But it is also recognised that these benefits are not equally distributed. Last week’s Apple decision demonstrates the complexity of the issue of distributing the benefits of globalisation. The Irish Government, faced with a windfall of some €13 billion, appears to have sided with the […]
The UK (and maybe the world) faces severe and worsening economic conditions due to Brexit. Many commentators do not seem to understand that there are time lags in the economy’s response to Brexit and that it is far too soon to assess its probable impact. In its latest Inflation Report the Bank of England, however, sets […]
International conflicts are inevitable when governments challenge the excesses of multinational corporations. Emotions are running high after the EU commission ordered the Irish government to claw back €13 billion in unpaid taxes from Apple, with the US government threatening retaliation. Following Britain’s decision to leave the world’s largest trading block and declarations by French and German […]
Economic globalisation has accelerated enormously. With the advances in information technology and international trade policies, it now permeates almost every sector of the economy as well as our whole way of life. At the same time, tariffs and technical trade barriers have been massively dismantled through wide-ranging market liberalisation, and worldwide competition has been ratcheted […]
The Ventotene summit among Prime Minister Renzi, Chancellor Merkel and President Hollande took place recently. Crucial issues were on the agenda: the geo-political conflicts at the borders of the European Union; internal security; migratory flows; economic growth. A strong wind of rhetoric about relaunching the ideals of the founding fathers of a united Europe animated […]
