Recently the Dutch government nationalized the Dutch financial conglomerate SNS Reaal. The intervention was the first use of the Intervention Act introduced in the beginning of 2012. Read more
Bruegel blog
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Six lessons for Europe from the nationalization of SNS Reaal
13th March 2013
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Banking crisis, financial stability and State aid: The experience so far
13th March 2013
Vice-President of European Commission, Joaquín Almunia, delivered this speech at Bruegel's event 'Banking crises, financial stability and state aid: the experience so far' on 8 March 2013. Read more
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Chart of the week: Is external adjustment working in the euro area?
12th March 2013
In the sixth year of the crisis of the euro area, it is time to review whether adjustment to external imbalances in the euro area is working. Current accounts have dramatically adjusted in a number of countries of the euro area as the graph below shows. Read more
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Blogs review: The stock market recovery
11th March 2013
What’s at stake: The strengthening of the U.S. economy was reflected last week by a positive jobs report with America adding 236,000 more jobs in February than it had in January, and an unemployment rate down to 7.7%. The past week was also marked by new highs in stock market valuations, which generated discussions about the sustainability of these improvements, the role of monetary policy in driving equity prices and the impact of stock market valuations on the rebuilding of household balance sheets. Read more
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Has the European Central Bank transformed itself into a hedge fund?
8th March 2013
Some observers have accused the European Central Bank (ECB) of having transformed itself into a hedge fund because of the purchases of government securities from stressed countries under the Securities Market Program (SMP). Read more
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A review on Germany’s minimum wage debate
7th March 2013
Unlike many other EU countries, Germany does not have a national minimum wage even though specific industrial sectors have one. The upper chamber of parliament, the Bundesrat, has now proposed a minimum wage of 8.5€. The debate over introducing a general minimum wage has therefore emerged and we want to summarize this debate, in particular German media voices, positions of German political parties as well as statements of economists. Read more
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Microsoft fined for non-compliance: a game-changer in antitrust settlements
6th March 2013
The European Commission has crossed into new territory. For the first time, it has sanctioned a company for not abiding by an antitrust settlement: a €561million fine imposed on Microsoft for not keeping to promises made by the company back in 2009. Read more
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The Transatlantic Trade and Investment Initiative: Hope or Hype?
5th March 2013
The decision to launch negotiations on a bilateral free trade area between the EU and the US, called the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) or EU-US free trade area is being hailed on both sides of the Atlantic as a historic development. Why have the EU and the US decided to undertake this “historic” project and at this point in time? Read more
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Blogs review: The Minimum Wage debate
4th March 2013
What’s at stake: In his State of the Union Address, US President Barack Obama resurrected a pledge to raise the minimum wage he had made during the 2008 campaign. In an effort to fight inequality, alleviate poverty and make work more attractive President Obama proposed proposed a $9 federal minimum wage, indexed to inflation. This has generated a lot of writings in the blogosphere, with the main issues revolving around the classic questions of the employment effect of the minimum wage as well as its efficacy as a means of redistribution. Read more
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A new direction for euro-area macro policies
1st March 2013
The debate on austerity in Europe has intensified after the publication of disappointing growth data for last year. The debate has been given further momentum by the recent Italian election, which has been typically interpreted as a rejection of austerity policies. Read more