The paper contributes to the debate on the stability/efficiency tradeoff of automatic stabilizers. A simple AD-AS two countries model is presented and illustrates circumstances where a reduction in taxes can foster stabilization. The testable implication from the model is that tax cuts can...

The paper contributes to the debate on the stability/efficiency tradeoff of automatic stabilizers. A simple AD-AS two countries model is presented and illustrates circumstances where a reduction in taxes can foster stabilization. The testable implication from the model is that tax cuts can...

The paper contributes to the debate on the stability/efficiency tradeoff of automatic stabilizers. A simple AD-AS two-country model is presented and illustrates circumstances where a reduction in taxes can foster stabilization. The testable implication from the model is that tax cuts can either...

An early criticism of the Stability and Growth Pact (SGP) has pointed to its asymmetric nature and the weak mechanisms to prevent politically-motivated fiscal policies: its constraints would bite in downswings but not in upswings, especially if, in the latter, the electoral cycle increases the...

European policy makers, notably in the euro area, seem to take for granted that the electorate will punish them for bold reform in product and labour markets. This may explain why progress in the euro area has been comparatively limited. This paper posits and, using a dataset for 21 OECD...

The present paper provides a broad review of these issues, based on findings in the literature and our own recent analytical work. Section 2 presents a bird's eye view of the history of the downfall of fiscal discretion in favour of fiscal rules and how this has shaped fiscal coordination in...

Reforms aiming at lowering the tax burden and cutting social benefits may boost efficiency and output, and improve market adjustment to shocks, but, by reducing the size of automatic stabilisers, may also imply less cyclical smoothing. This would be problematic in EMU given the loss of national...

Reforms aiming at lowering the tax burden and cutting social benefits may boost efficiency and output, and improve market adjustment to shocks, but, by reducing the size of automatic stabilisers, may also imply less cyclical smoothing. This would be problematic in EMU given the loss of national...

The fiscal philosophy of EMU's budgetary rules is to bring deficits close to balance and then let automatic stabilisers play freely. Given the large tax and benefit systems in Europe, relying mainly on automatic stabilisation would allow a relatively high degree of cyclical smoothing while...