"Public expenditure is an essential tool for governments to underpin prosperity, opportunities and freedom in our advanced countries. But discontent is spreading at a time when high spending, debt and new challenges risk overwhelming many governments. This book's four themes are, therefore, as...

Given high government spending, debt and the new challenges on the horizon, the themes of this work are more relevant than ever: the essential tool of spending by the state, its 'value for money', likely risks in the future, and the remedies to create lean, efficient and sustainable government....

This study presents the facts, arguments and scenarios around public debt from a global perspective. Especially the largest economies feature record debt and fiscal risks, including from population ageing and financial imbalances. Given low interest rates, there is no imminent problem. But at...

This paper provides a study of bond yield differentials among EU government bonds on the basis of a unique data set of issue spreads in the US and DM (Euro) bond market between 1993 and 2009. Interest differentials between bonds issued by EU countries and Germany or the USA contain risk premiums...

The ongoing fiscal and financial crisis with significant macroeconomic imbalances in the euro area raises the question in how far public–private wage interaction and even wage spirals contribute to fiscal and competitiveness problems. In this vain we analyse empirically whether the evolution...

This article explains the "new" institutional framework for fiscal policy-making in the EU countries agreed first in the Maastricht Treaty and later complemented by the Stability and Growth Pact. This framework introduces a – probably unprecedented – supra-national institutional framework...

Cet article expose le « nouveau » cadre institutionnel de l’élaboration de la politique budgétaire dans les pays de l’Union européenne, décidé initialement dans le Traité de Maastricht, puis complété par le Pacte de stabilité et de croissance. C’est l’application aux...