In the July/August issue of Intereconomics, Silke Tober criticised a proposal put forth by Andrew Watt to solve the euro crisis through the use of monetary financing of the public sector. Tober argued that there are valid reasons to keep monetary and fiscal policy separate from one another and...

Recent price developments in the euro area demonstrate that deflation is a serious issue of concern. Some euro area countries are already facing a deflation in the usual macroeconomic sense of a 'general price decline'. This article discusses the economic consequences of deflation and suggests...

Should central banks intervene in currency markets? In theory, within a flexible system, central banks should leave the process of determining appropriate exchange rates to the currency markets. In practice, however, central banks have frequently intervened to 'manage' the exchange rates...

In the aftermath of the crisis, Europe is becoming more polarised in terms of employment, competitiveness and industrial specialisation. A 'German-centred core' which maintained employment and production – has emerged, contrasted by a 'Southern periphery', where major economic losses have...

The debt crisis of the eurozone revealed a structural problem of the single market rooted in the external imbalance problem of indebted member states. The assumption of this paper is that the current account imbalances within the eurozone are based on an intra-eurozone competitiveness disparity...

Against the backdrop of an unstable international monetary system centred around the US dollar and very dim prospects of reforming this system, this article analyses the rationale for the unilateral introduction of gold-backed currencies and the challenges and problems associated with such a...

The current system for the financing of the EU needs to be reformed. This paper puts forth a reform proposal with two important elements: first, the addition of an EU VAT share on receipts; and second, a shift in power from the European Council to the European Parliament with regard to the...

The correct understanding of Greece’s debt can only be obtained by using international accrual accounting standards rather than the cash-basis future face value definition. Changing the terms of debt changes the value of the debt in Greek governmental financial statements correctly prepared...

The Baltic states experienced strong economic growth and a rapid closing of the income gap with developed economies until the onset of the global financial crisis. Since then they have seen a marked slowdown of economic growth. This raises the issue of whether the Baltic states might become...