„Ich habe mich nicht für jede französische, deutsche, oder deutsch-französische Initiative begeistert, aber diese hier war die Unterstützung wert“. Mit diesen für ihn typischen Worten stellte der erste Chairman Mario Monti den Thinktank Bruegel am 18. Januar 2005 der Presse vor. Read more
Bruegel blog
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Wie alles anfing
30th January 2013
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UPS-TNT: the eternal struggle between harm and efficiencies
30th January 2013
After Olympic/Aegean and Deutsche Börse/NYSE, today’s decision on UPS/TNT is Joaquin Almunia’s third merger prohibition since he became the European Union's competition chief in 2010. Mr Almunia’s predecessor as competition commissioner, Neelie Kroes, ended her five-year mandate having barred two mergers. Read more
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Will Europe pay for Japan?
28th January 2013
As the Bank of Japan is rolling out its new programme of quantitative easing, a significant debate about the impact on Europe is emerging. Is Japan engaging in a “beggar-thy-neighbour” policy? Is Europe paying the price as other central banks are responding? Jean-Claude Juncker has already announced that the euro is overvalued while Jens Weidmann sees global central bank independence endangered. Let’s first look at the facts. Read more
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Yen at war
25th January 2013
Talks about currency wars have resurged since the recently elected Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe declared war on deflation, using the heavy armament of fiscal stimulus and monetary easing. His moves have given rise to much controversy; see eg the recent Bruegel blog review and a video interview with Professor Mitsuhiro Fukao from Keio University. As a result, the yen has depreciated sharply recent weeks. But how do the current yen exchange rates look like in a historical perspective? Figure 1 shows that even after a sharp recent depreciation of the yen, its rates against some major currencies are not weak compared to the past two decades. The 25 January 2013 rate of 91 against the US dollar is still… Read more
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Blogs review: A bird’s eye view on Bruegel’s research in the crisis
25th January 2013
What’s at stake: On 22 January 2003, the idea of setting up what would become Bruegel had been given a strong impetus by the Chirac-Schröder declaration issued on the occasion of the 40th anniversary of the Elysée Treaty. Ten years after that first impulse, Bruegel has been ranked as 1st think-tank in Western Europe, 2nd outside the US, and 1st worldwide in International Economic Policy in the 2012 Global Go To Think Tanks Report. In the spirit of the Stability and Growth Pact, we decided to grant an exception the rules governing our blogs review and survey some of our very own publications for those of you (especially in the blogosphere since we were pretty late at joining the dance) who may have missed these. Read more
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British angst over Europe will continue
24th January 2013
David Cameron’s speech on Europe was predominantly tactical. So, too, are the reactions from Berlin and Paris. But the British prime minister’s speech raises questions of broad significance for the whole of the EU. Should it be redefined as a permanently two-level edifice? And if so, how? Read more
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The three dimensions of the euro area crisis
22nd January 2013
Speech by Benoît Cœuré, Member of the Executive Board of the ECB, Asia-Europe Economic Forum conference on European troubles, Asian worries, Brussels, 21 January 2013. Read more
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Merkel et Hollande doivent se projeter dans l'avenir et développer un projet qui fasse sens
18th January 2013
ParisBerlin Jean Pisani-Ferry, directeur de l’institut Bruegel, Bruxelles/Janvier 13 ITW réalisée par Henri de Bresson/ParisBerlin Version longue relue pour internet et facebook L‘Allemagne a commencé à reformer il y a dix ans sous les sociaux-démocrates. En France même la droite qui avait promis de réformer ne l’a pas fait vraiment. Sur quoi repose ce décalage? Sans négliger les responsabilités politiques, je mettrais d’abord l’accent sur les sociétés. EnAllemagne et en France, les sociétés civiles, les partenaires sociaux, ont vécu les 20 dernières annéesde manière très différente. Le choc de la réunification a été un choc soudain, compliqué à gérermais profondément positif pour l’Allemagne. La mondialisation a créé de nouvelles concurrencesmais aussi renforcé sa vocation exportatrice. La France a reconnu les… Read more
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Bruegel's Franco-German roots
18th January 2013
“I have not been an enthusiastic supporter of each and every French, German, or Franco-German initiative, but I must say that this one was worth supporting”. This is how, in his characteristic style, Bruegel first chairman Mario Monti presented it to the press on 18 January 2005. Read more
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Blogs review: Japan and the end of orthodox policies
18th January 2013
What’s at stake: Japan, with its huge government debt, its aging population and its history of self-induced policy paralysis – or as Milton Friedman put it its “decade of inept monetary policy” – was not expected to be the country breaking with the economic orthodoxy of the day. Read more