Global economic conditions have deteriorated considerably since summer 2011. Europe in particular has been obliged to revise its growth expectations sharply downwards. The debt crisis and its consequences have stifled demand worldwide, even impacting regions that have long been developing...

There are differing views on the causes of, and cures for, this crisis. At one end of the spectrum, some ultimately see it as a public debt crisis and advocate the strengthening of political constraints on government borrowing. Others primarily regard it as a confidence crisis, which should be...

This chapter summarises recent developments in Hungary and aims to shed some light on why Hungary failed to live up to the expectations of the early 1990s. Section 5.2 analyses Hungary’s growth performance since 1990, and is followed by an analysis of its labour markets in Section 5.3. Section...

Chapter 2: The European Balance-of-Payments Problem: Introduce ‘euro-standard’ bills / Settle Target balances. Chapter 3: Banking Regulation: Promote European financial integration / Give national central banks a supervisory role / Redesign the euro area’s financial architecture. Chapter...

Section 3.2 of this chapter overviews the crisis and its regulatory failures. Section 3.3 deals with ongoing regulatory reform, while Section 3.4 analyses competition policy and its interaction with regulation. In Sections 3.5 and 3.6 we look at the reform of the European Union’s financial...

Authors of the Report on the European Economy 2012

Chapter 1 of the report discusses the immediate macro economic outlook for the global economy. Chapter 2 argues that the euro crisis was fundamentally triggered by major macroeconomic imbalances within the euro area. These imbalances hindered capital flows, while uncertainty surrounding the...

This chapter tries to explain the strong performance of public finances in Sweden and looks at what lessons for other countries can be drawn. Section 4.2 reviews the development of public finances over time. Section 4.3 begins by surveying the research on why fiscal policy in modern democracies...

Burning of fossil fuel is the main reason behind manmade climate change. By burning the carbon content, carbon dioxide is produced and quickly spreads in the global atmosphere. This increases the greenhouse effect, thereby changing the earth’s energy balance. Concern over the negative...

Authors of the Report on the European Economy 2011