Restoring sustainable public finances in the aftermath of the Great Recession is a key challenge in most EU countries. In order to learn from history, our paper examines consolidation episodes in the EU since 1970. We shed light on the factors that favour the start of a consolidation episode and...

Einleitung -- Die politische Dimension von Sezessionen -- Die völkerrechtliche Zulässigkeit von Sezessionen: Quadratur des juristischen Kreises? Sezessionen im Spannungsfeld zwischen Selbstbestimmungsrecht und Wahrung territorialer Integrität -- Die ökonomische Dimension von Sezessionen --...

The combination of discretionary monetary policy, labour-market distortions and nominal wage rigidity yields an inflation bias as monetary policy tries to exploit nominal wage contracts to address labour-market distortions. Although an inflation target eliminates this inflation bias, it creates...