In welfare states, collective saving has declined to a persistently negative level, while reduced fertility and increasing longevity are leading to increasing pension liabilities. Actuarial neutrality across generations is presented as a benchmark for designing pension reforms to meet the...

The paper examines pension reforms under population ageing. The concepts of implicit pension debtʺ, implicit taxʺ and internal rate of returnʺ are first introduced with the help of a three-period model. Using stylised facts, ageing is traced to low fertility and increasing longevity....

The euro area will not have a centralized budget, and smoothing of country-specific asymmetric shocks via private financial markets will develop only slowly. Mistrust among the governments has caused rigid, even pro-cyclical, fiscal policies. Smoothing mechanisms are absent due to the fear that...

The paper analyzes some key policy trade-offs involved in the implementation of the Stability and Growth Pact. Greater ""procedural"" flexibility in the Pact''s implementation may improve welfare. Procedural flexibility designates the enforcer''s room to apply judgment on underlying policies and...

The euro area will not have a centralised budget and smoothing of country-specific asymmetric shocks via private financial markets will develop only slowly. Mistrust among the governments has caused rigid, even pro-cyclical fiscal policies. Smoothing mechanisms are absent due to the fear that...

The Stability and Growth Pact (SGP) adopted in 1997 originally set budget balance as the medium-term objective (MTO) for all EU Member States, to create a safety margin under the 3% of GDP deficit ceiling. In a reform in 2005, MTOs were made country-specific and dependent on initial debt and the...

This paper studies saving in an economy where decline in fertility to a permanently lower level and increasing longevity are changing the age structure permanently and where the public pension system helps to smooth consumption over a lifetime of working and retirement. A simple overlapping...