Can China Change?
by Jean Pisani-Ferry on 30 November 2009
Category: OPINION PIECES AND COLUMNS
Topics: Currencies and International finance, European and global governance
Director Jean Pisani-Ferry takes a look at the economic situation in China and examines whether China's growth can be rebalanced and whether the Chinese government will participate fully in global governance. The column was published in the French newspaper Le Monde (30 Nov) and the German financial daily Handelsblatt (30 Nov).
The Financial Times: Why the Euro Is Not the Next Global Currency
by Jean Pisani-Ferry, Adam Posen on 18 October 2009
Category: OPINION PIECES AND COLUMNS
Topics: Currencies and International finance
Bruegel Director Jean Pisani-Ferry and Adam Posen, Member of the Monetary Policy Committee for the Bank of England and Bruegel Board Member, explain why the euro has not been favored as a global currency even as the dollar's dominance of the world currency markets has been met with widespread criticism. The authors point out that the euro has failed to gain special status due to "self-imposed limits on usage and adoption abroad," such as strict adherance to both ERM-II exchange rate stability requirements and to the Maastrict criteria for euro entry. Having a wider role for the euro, they argue, would be better for both the global community and the eurozone.
The piece was also published in the Financial Times Deutschland.
Memos to the new Commission- Europe's economic priorities 2010-2015
by Zsolt Darvas, Jürgen von Hagen, Jean Pisani-Ferry, Bruno van Pottelsberghe , Lars-Hendrik Röller, Indhira Santos, André Sapir, Reinhilde Veugelers, Nicolas Véron, Jakob von Weizsäcker on 27 August 2009
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Category: BOOKS
Topics: Budgetary and monetary policies, Climate change and energy, Competition and single market, Currencies and International finance, Emerging economies and development, Financial markets and regulation, European and global governance, Labour, migration and ageing, Research, innovation and growth, Trade, investment and competitiveness, New Member States, Enlargement and Neighbourhood
These Memos, addressed to the next Commission President and to the new European commissioners, are written by Bruegel Scholars and edited by Senior Research Fellow André Sapir and focus on key economic aspects of EU policy-making.
The new Commission will enter office at a challenging time for Europe, the EU and the Commission itself. The crisis has clearly exposed weaknesses in EU governance which need to be addressed and the memos make a number of concrete recommendations of relevance for major economic fields, as well as for the EU and Commission as a whole.
Addressing the next Commission President, André Sapir and Jean Pisani-Ferry propose that effective leadership will be necessary to give strategic direction to the Commission, ’you [the president] should therefore be ready to fight for ideas and take risks" (JPF-AS). The Memos suggest that the EU will need to assert a position on commonly agreed rules, propose new solutions and, importantly, has an opportunity now to redefine the European narrative in the global arena.
Focusing on the most important economic questions at EU level, the Bruegel memos are intended to be strategic, outlining the state of affairs that will be met by the new Commission and the key challenges and priorities they will need to consider over the next five years.
The euro at ten: the next global currency?
by Jean Pisani-Ferry, Adam Posen on 14 June 2009
Download: English
Category: BOOKS
Topics: Currencies and International finance, European and global governance
Over the first ten years of its existence, the euro has proved to be more than a powerful symbol of collective identity. It has provided price stability to previously inflation-prone countries; it has offered a shelter against currency crises; and it has by and large been conducive to budgetary discipline. The eurozone has attracted five new members in addition to the initial eleven, and many countries in Europe wish to adopt it. The euro has also been successful internationally. Even though research presented in this volume confirms that it has not rivaled the dollar's world currency status, it has certainly become a strong regional currency in Europe and the Mediterranean region. Some countries in the region have de facto adopted it, several peg to it, and many have become at least partially euroized.
However, the euro's impressive first decade is likely to be followed by a much more difficult period. The present financial crisis is posing at least two important challenges: real economic adjustment within the euro area and maintenance of fiscal and financial stability without a central government authority capable of taking appropriate financial and fiscal decisions in difficult times.
This book is the product of a joint conference held in 2008 by the Peterson Institute for International Economics and Bruegel. It is edited by Bruegel Director Jean Pisani-Ferry and then-PIEE Deputy Director and current Bruegel board member Adam Posen. The papers and remarks in this volume demonstrate that the euro has proved to be attractive as a fair weather currency for countries and investors well beyond its borders. But it remains to be seen whether it is equipped to also succeed as a stormy weather currency.
Contributors: Joaquín Almunia, Maria Celina Arraes, Leszek Balcerowicz, C. Fred Bergsten, Lorenzo Bini Smaghi, Kristin J. Forbes, Linda S. Goldberg, C. Randall Henning, Mohsin S. Khan, Antonio de Lecea, Erkki Liikanen, Philippe Martin, Thomas Mayer, André Sapir, Dominique Strauss-Kahn, Lawrence H. Summers, and György Szapáry.
For more information on the events related to the book launch, please consult our Research page.
La zone euro à l'épreuve
by Jean Pisani-Ferry on 01 March 2009
Download: French
Category: EXTERNAL PUBLICATIONS
Topics: Budgetary and monetary policies, Currencies and International finance
In the March edition of Constructif, Bruegel Director Jean Pisani-Ferry writes that the economic crisis has provided the members of the euro zone with an opportunity to install major reforms going forward. This includes three major priorities for the EU: political accountability; crisis management; and engagement with neighbourhood countries.