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Britain, Ireland, and Europe

David Miliband — Thu, 23 May 2013 20:13:06 +0000

British Prime Minister David Cameron is increasingly beholden to Conservative backbenchers who want to pull the UK out of the EU. On May 22, former British Foreign Secretary David Miliband delivered the Irish Business and Employers Confederation Annual Lecture, in which he defended continued EU membership.

Europe’s Lost Keynesians

Kenneth Rogoff — Thu, 23 May 2013 09:00:00 +0000

There is no magic Keynesian bullet for the eurozone’s woes, despite what many commentators and much of the public seem to believe. The eurozone’s difficulties stem from European financial and monetary integration having gotten too far ahead of actual political, fiscal, and banking union – not exactly a problem that Keynes tried to address.

Misreading the Global Economy

Ashoka Mody — Thu, 23 May 2013 09:00:00 +0000

Over the last three years, the IMF's economic forecasts have repeatedly proved to be overly optimistic. The problem is rooted in a misdiagnosis of the global economy's problems, including the impact of the eurozone crisis and slowing GDP growth in emerging economies.

Europe’s Clash of Generations

Gene Frieda — Thu, 23 May 2013 09:00:00 +0000

EU leaders are under pressure from a new generation of voters, for whom the original purpose of European integration – preventing war – holds little significance today. If EU leaders do not respond effectively, emerging political parties will seek to restore the protective national barriers that their predecessors demolished.

The Debt-Growth Controversy

Michael Boskin — Wed, 22 May 2013 09:00:00 +0000

The recent controversy over errors in a 2010 paper by the economists Carmen Reinhart and Ken Rogoff is a sad commentary on the politically toxic atmosphere surrounding fiscal policy in the US, Europe, and Japan. The Reinhart/Rogoff paper is just a small part of a large literature that shows high debt levels to be economically risky.

Africa’s French Roadblock

Sanou Mbaye — Tue, 21 May 2013 09:00:00 +0000

While some African countries now rank among the world's fastest-growing economies, others – including the 14 countries that form the franc zone – remain mired in poverty. To break out of it, franc-zone leaders must pursue complete emancipation from France, abandon the CFA franc, and build relations with China.

Austere Illusions

Robert Skidelsky — Tue, 21 May 2013 09:00:00 +0000

A government cannot liquidate its deficit if the source of its revenues, the national income, is diminishing. It is deficit reduction, not debt, that is profligate, because it implies wastage of available human and physical capital, quite apart from the resulting misery.

The Flawed Origins of Expansionary Austerity

Jeffrey Frankel — Mon, 20 May 2013 09:00:00 +0000

As the case for austerity in a time of recession has weakened under the continuing onslaught of facts (most notably the recessions in Europe), advocates of fiscal stimulus have found the missteps of their opponents Carmen Reinhart, Ken Rogoff, and Niall Ferguson to be convenient weapons. But they are the wrong weapons.

Learning About Growth from Austerity

Michael Spence — Sat, 18 May 2013 09:00:00 +0000

All countries face complex choices with respect to the timing of austerity, perceived sovereign credit risk, and growth-oriented reforms. Today, advanced countries' previous emphasis on austerity may be giving way to a more balanced approach to boosting economic growth and employment.

Nationalism, Madness, and Terrorism

Liah Greenfeld — Fri, 17 May 2013 16:00:33 +0000

If we want to understand what drove the Boston Marathon bombing suspects to terrorism, the answer almost certainly does not lie in Dagestan, where the brothers lived before moving to the US, or in Chechnya's two wars in the last 20 years. Instead, the key to the Tsarnaevs’ behavior lies in developments in England 500 years ago.

The Resistible Fall of Europe: An Interview with George Soros

George Soros — Wed, 15 May 2013 08:15:03 +0000

The politics of the eurozone countries is European politics, and European politics is not serving these countries well. In an extended interview, George Soros explains why – and what should be done about it.

Balancing the Technocrats

Kemal Derviş — Fri, 10 May 2013 09:00:00 +0000

Electoral cycles are such that monetary policy, banking, and many other areas must be regulated by those with professional competence and a much longer time horizon than that of politicians. But, if technocrats are allowed to determine long-term policy and set objectives, democracy itself is in serious jeopardy.

Less of an Ass

Aryeh Neier — Thu, 09 May 2013 09:00:00 +0000

Freedom of expression worldwide received a boost – and Britain’s reputation for commonsense was somewhat restored – in April, when Parliament adopted legislation revising the country’s libel law. The amended law should go a long way toward preventing deep-pocketed plaintiffs from using British courts to silence their critics.

Debt Without Drowning

Paul De Grauwe — Thu, 09 May 2013 09:00:00 +0000

Given that dismantling the eurozone would trigger profound economic, social, and political upheaval throughout Europe, its leaders really have only one option: develop strategies aimed at bringing the eurozone closer to a fiscal union. They should begin with a debt-pooling scheme that satisfies three crucial requirements.

Europe’s Irrelevant Austerity Debate

Daniel Gros — Wed, 08 May 2013 09:00:00 +0000

The debate about austerity and the cost of high public-debt levels misses a key point: public debt owed to foreigners is different from debt owed to residents. And that distinction is particularly important in the context of the euro crisis, which the evidence confirms is not really about sovereign debt, but about foreign debt.

In Defense of Non-Visionaries

Joseph S. Nye — Tue, 07 May 2013 14:30:38 +0000

Many of the recent tributes for Margaret Thatcher celebrated her as a “transformational” leader who brought about great changes, and there were frequent references to her equally transformational American counterpart, Ronald Reagan. But a more interesting comparison is with her other presidential contemporary, George H. W. Bush.

Europe’s National Wild Cards

John Bruton — Tue, 07 May 2013 13:50:19 +0000

After almost 70 years of peace, Europeans seem to have forgotten why unity was so important, indulging nationalist sentiment without regard for its potential consequences. At the same time, they fail to grasp that their economies are too closely interconnected for independent economic policy to work.

Soros versus Sinn: The German Question

George Soros, et al. — Mon, 06 May 2013 18:56:45 +0000

The ongoing euro crisis has been a source of increasingly heated debate worldwide. Now, George Soros and Hans-Werner Sinn, two regular Project Syndicate contributors and leading figures in the discussion, debate the cause of Europe’s crisis and how to overcome it.

The New Economy of Fealty

Harold James — Thu, 02 May 2013 09:00:00 +0000

Since the late twentieth century, most employment growth has come in services, particularly personal services – a pattern that looks like a reversal of a previous historical trend. Indeed, the element of personal dependence that many of the new service jobs imply is a throwback to the preindustrial world.

A Fateful Mistake

Jean Pisani-Ferry — Wed, 01 May 2013 09:00:00 +0000

Adjustment fatigue is setting in, and governments risk losing support if they go much further in the effort to achieve fiscal consolidation. But the recent discrediting of the evidence on which hasty austerity has relied risks undermining the case for fiscal responsibility in the long run.