In early 2010, a group of men (and a few women) in dark suits landed in Athens. They belonged to a global institution, the International Monetary Fund, and to a pair of regional ones, the European Commission and the European Central Bank. Read more
Bruegel blog
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Europe’s Troika should grow up
28th May 2013
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La voie étroite de l’intelligence budgétaire
23rd April 2013
Le débat sur l’austérité budgétaire a repris en Europe. Ce n’est pas étonnant. Read more
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Europe’s banks need to be recapitalised – now
15th April 2013
Europe’s growth performance was disappointing before the financial crisis. It has been dismal since. Five years into the “great recession”, the risk for Europe is to remain trapped in stagnation. Vicious circles are apparent across the continent: weak growth undermines deleveraging and fuels banking fragility. Read more
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The Politics of Moral Hazard
31st March 2013
It is an old and a never-ending contest. On one side are the moral-hazard scolds, claiming that one of the major responsibilities confronting policymakers is to establish incentives that demonstrate that imprudent behavior does not pay. On the other side are the partisans of financial stability, for whom confidence in the financial system is too precious to be endangered, even with the best possible intentions. Read more
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Chypre : calculs, cafouillages et émotions
22nd March 2013
Une bonne intrigue combine classiquement le froid calcul des acteurs rationnels, la dose de cafouillage nécessaire au réalisme, et ce qu’il faut d’émotion pour électriser. Les trois éléments se retrouvent dans le drame chypriote. Read more
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Is struggling Europe on the right track?
27th February 2013
The latest European Commission outlook forecasts 2014 unemployment rates above 25 per cent in Greece and Spain, in the vicinity of 15 per cent in Ireland and Portugal, but close to 5 per cent in Austria, Germany and the Netherlands. In the same year it expects GDP per capita to be almost 7 per cent above the pre-crisis level in Germany, but about 7 percent below in Ireland, Portugal and Spain, and a terrifying 24 per cent below in Greece. So the deep economic and social divide that as emerged within the euro area is expected to linger. Read more
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What Mr Rehn should tell France.
21st February 2013
When he presents the forecasts on Friday, should Olli Rehn, the commission’s vice-president, coerce governments in France and other countries into further adjustment to ensure they meet their 2013 deficit targets? Or should he give them more time? It is a difficult balancing act. Read more
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L’Europe en morceaux
12th February 2013
Avec un David Cameron acharné à préserver son rabais et à dégraisser la bureaucratie bruxelloise et un François Hollande soucieux de sauvegarder les intérêts des agriculteurs hexagonaux, les négociations budgétaires de la semaine dernière ont offert l’apparence d’une dramaturgie familière. L’Europe, pourtant, n’est plus la même que lorsque Tony Blair et Jacques Chirac s’affrontaient sur ce même budget. Si elle s’est révélée à l’épreuve impuissante à faire des choix porteurs d’avenir et à y affecter des moyens, c’est pour beaucoup parce qu’elle est écartelée entre des pays aux situations économiques disparates, dont les priorités diffèrent au moins autant par nécessité que par fidélité à des positions doctrinales. Read more
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L’euro fort : fausses frayeurs et vrais dangers
11th February 2013
Les dirigeants français, François Hollande en tête, s’alarment de la remontée de l’euro. Leurs homologues allemands rétorquent qu’il n’est pas surévalué. Qui a raison ? L’affaire est assez compliquée pour mériter une réponse en plusieurs temps. Read more
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Distressed Europe should not be bribed to reform
6th February 2013
European leaders have started a discussion on German-inspired “contracts for competitiveness and growth”. To implement structural reforms in eurozone member states, the European Commission has proposed to negotiate with selected countries contracts underpinned by financial support. Read more