The euro
Delors, Schäuble and Europe's misdiagnosed competitiveness problem
30 January 2024
European Commission President Jacques Delors and German finance minister Wolfgang Schäuble left their mark on the European project. Their thinking can still help Europe out of its current geo-economic predicament.
Five proposals for enforceable EU fiscal rules
17 April 2023
As the EU reforms its fiscal rules it risks repeating past mistakes. The EU should couple Commission discretion with stronger enforcement mechanisms to get member-states to follow debt reduction plans.
Russia may ditch the dollar – but it needs the euro
29 March 2022
Naysayers claim Western financial sanctions will speed Russia and China’s drift away from Western currencies and finance. But the West’s predominance in the global financial system is enduring.
A proposal for a coronabond: The Pandemic Solidarity Instrument
06 April 2020
The economic hit is so severe, and the demands on fiscal policy so high, that the EU needs to share the burden between stronger and weaker countries.
On Brexit, TTIP and the City of London
30 May 2018
The EU was keen to include financial services in TTIP, the proposed trade agreement with the US. Is its reluctance to do so with the UK mere hypocrisy?
Bulletin Issue 120 - June/July 2018
30 May 2018
- On Brexit, TTIP and the City of London, Sam Lowe
- Trump and Europe: Atlantic hurricane season?, Ian Bond
- Can EU-UK defence negotiations be positive-sum?, Sophia Besch
Italy after the election: From partner to spoiler?
30 January 2018
Italy's 4th March election is likely to be less consequential than many assume. But it will highlight the urgency of reforming the eurozone and better managing migration.
Conference report: How to save the EU
15 January 2018
50 leading economists, political scientists and experts on the EU considered the forces undermining the Union, and how Europe should respond to them.
Brexiting Swiss-style: The best possible UK-EU trade deal
24 April 2017
The softest form of hard Brexit that is plausible – given the red lines of the 27 and Britain – is something like Switzerland's deal with the EU.
Is the EU's single market leading to convergence or divergence?
04 April 2017
The single market's 'agglomeration effects' – the tendency of wealthier areas to attract capital and skills – seem as strong as the 'catch-up effects' of poorer members importing capital and expertise.
Long day’s journey into economic night
11 July 2016
Economic developments in Britain since the referendum suggest that a recession is coming. And the politics of the negotiation with the EU suggest the country will suffer a prolonged period of weak economic growth.
NATO defence spending: Money can't buy you solidarity
06 July 2016
NATO allies have halted the trend of decreasing defence budgets. At the Warsaw Summit, they should work to translate spending levels into a stronger military posture for the alliance.
Time for a regime change in Frankfurt
08 March 2016
To get eurozone inflation back to the 'close to 2 per cent' target, the ECB needs to be much bolder – and needs fiscal help.
Bulletin Issue 106 - February/March 2016
22 January 2016
- Poland: Europe's new enfant terrible?, Agata Gostyńska-Jakubowska
- Can the eurozone shake off the global gloom?, Simon Tilford
- The Brexit equation: EU minus UK = ? , Ian Bond
European competitiveness, revisited
19 January 2016
European ‘competitiveness’ should be defined as productivity, and the policies to raise it are complex and counter-specific. Raising ‘competitiveness’ also requires more, not less democracy.
Has the euro been a failure?
11 January 2016
The euro has not been a positive economic and political force. But keeping the single currency together could still be less risky than dismantling it.
25 years on: How the euro's architects erred
05 November 2015
The original plans for the euro – conceived 25 years ago – suffered from five major flaws. Only some of these flaws have been fixed.
Lighten the load
26 August 2015
Greece’s debt burden needs to be reduced, but maturity extensions on existing loans are not enough for Greece to return to the markets.
Could eurozone integration damage the single market?
27 July 2015
Britain fears that the eurozone could caucus and impose rules on the EU single market. So David Cameron is asking for safeguards to protect the market.
The Greek bailout deal resolves nothing
13 July 2015
Even if the new bailout makes it through the Greek parliament in coming weeks, the programme's economic incoherence will make it fall apart.