The Monetary Policy of the European Central Bank (2002-2015). Bruges European Economic Policy Briefings (BEEP) 35/2015.

This paper examines the policies pursued by the European Central Bank (ECB) since the inception of the euro. The ECB was originally set up to pursue price stability, with an eye also to economic growth and financial stability as subsidiary goals, once the primary goal was secured. The application of a single monetary policy to a diverse economic area has entailed a pronounced pro-cyclicality in its real economic effects on the eurozone periphery. Later, monetary policy became the main policy instrument to tackle financial instability elicited by the failure of Lehman Brothers and the sovereign debt crisis in the eurozone. In the process, the ECB emerged as the lender of last resort in the sovereign debt markets of participating countries. Persistent economic depression and deflation eventually brought the ECB into the uncharted waters of unconventional policies. That the ECB could legally perform all of these tasks bears witness to the flexibility of the TFEU and its Statute, but its tools and operating procedures were stretched to their limit. In the end, the place of the ECB amongst EU policy-making institutions has been greatly enhanced, but has entailed repeated intrusions into the broader domain of economic policies – not least because of its market intervention policies – whose consequences have yet to be ascertained.

What role for social investment in the new economic governance of the Eurozone? EPC Policy Brief, 10 November 2015

The EU, and the Eurozone in particular, has been going through a period of prolonged economic difficulty. While there are some signs of recovery, growth rates remain too low, only returning to the already modest growth rates of the pre-crisis period. This not only affects the creation of jobs, but also, through lower tax revenues and stagnant GDP levels, the consolidation of public finances.

What caused the eurozone crisis? CEPS Commentary, 27 November 2015

After five years of crisis there are now signs that the eurozone economy is recovering, but it is far from being back to normal. The authors of this CEPS Commentary sound a note of caution: although progress has been made with the banking union and new institutions like the European Stability Mechanism (ESM), more needs to be done. The eurozone crisis may be in remission now but when interest rates start to rise, or if confidence evaporates again due to global shock, the systemic cracks could reappear at an alarming rate.

Economic Policy Coordination in the Euro Area under the European Semester. CEPS Special Report No. 123, December 2015

The implementation record of the Country Specific Recommendations (CSRs) has declined over time, as financial turbulence lessened and the economic outlook started to improve. Urgency for reforms seemingly receded to leave room to request member states to move towards more accommodative stances. It is mainly the small countries that implement, at least partially, the recommendations addressed to them. Unfortunately, there is little that the EU can do to change the status quo. Yet, the President of the Eurogroup could be held accountable for the implementation of the recommendations addressed to the euro area. The creation of National Competitiveness Boards risks making the European Semester even more complex and likely to have little impact in the countries that need them most, namely large countries and those with poor governance. To make it effective, a procedure would be needed to make national wage norms consistent at the euro-area level, which may be a very difficult objective to achieve.

Europe’s Untapped Capital Market: Rethinking integration after the great financial crisis. Final report of the European Capital Markets Expert Group. Task Force Report, February 2016

In December 2014, ECMI and CEPS formed the European Capital Markets Expert Group (ECMEG) with the aim of providing a long-term contribution to the debate on the Capital Markets Union (CMU) project, proposed by the European Commission. After an intensive, year-long research effort and in-depth discussions with ECMEG members, this final report aims to rethink financial integration policies in the European Union and to devise an EU-wide plan to remove the barriers to greater capital markets integration. It offers a methodology to identify and prioritise cross-border barriers to capital markets integration and provides a set of policy recommendations to improve its key components: price discovery, execution and enforcement of capital markets transactions.

State Transformation and the European Integration Project. Lessons from the financial crisis and the Greek paradigm. CEPS Special Report No. 130/February 2016

The financial crisis that erupted in the eurozone not only affected the EU’s financial governance mechanisms, but also the very nature of state sovereignty and balances in the relations of member states; thus, the actual inequalities between the member states hidden behind their institutional equality have deteriorated. This transformation is recorded in the case law of the Court of Justice of the European Union and the member states’ constitutional courts, particularly in those at the heart of the crisis, with Greece as the most prominent example. It is the issue of public debt (sovereign debt) of the EU member states that particularly reflects the influence of the crisis on state sovereignty as well as the intensely transnational (intergovernmental) character of European integration, which under these circumstances takes the form of a continuous, tough negotiation. The historical connection between public debt (sovereign debt) and state sovereignty has re-emerged because of the financial crisis. This development has affected not only the European institutions, but also, at the member state level, the actual institutional content of the rule of law (especially judicial review) and the welfare state in its essence, as the great social and political acquis of 20th century Europe. From this perspective, the way that the Greek courts have dealt with the gradual waves of fiscal austerity measures and structural reforms from 2010 to 2015 is characteristic. The effect of the financial crisis on the sovereignty of the member states and on the pace of European integration also has an impact on European foreign and security policy, and the correlations between the political forces at both the national and European level, thus producing even more intense pressures on European social democracy. In light of the experience of the financial crisis, the final question is whether the nation state (given the large real inequalities among the EU member states) currently functions as a brake or as an engine for future European integration.

Banking crisis yet again and how to fix it. CEPS Commentary, 15 February 2016

Almost out of the blue, a combination of diverse factors has elicited a run on bank stocks and junior and senior debt, raising the spectre of a renewed systemic bank crisis within the European Union. The policy response cannot come from the European Central Bank but, instead, must consist of regulatory responses capable of dispelling the uncertainty over future prudential capital requirements while also temporarily suspending the rules on state aid cum bail-in that had ignited the crisis.

Economic and industrial aspects of crisis relocation : an overview : final report /

Prepared under contract DCPAO1-75-C-0279, Work unit 2312E, by Center for Planning and Research, Inc., 750 Welch Road ,Palo Alto, CA.

Alternative policies for managing the international debt crisis [microform] : hearing before the Joint Economic Committee, Congress of the United States, Ninety-ninth Congress, second session, June 24, 1986.

CIS Microfiche Accession Numbers: CIS 88 J841-12

International debt crisis [microform] : hearing before the Subcommittee on International Economic Policy and Trade of the Committee on Foreign Affairs, House of Representatives, One Hundred First Congress, first session, May 30, 1989.

CIS Microfiche Accession Numbers: CIS 89 H381-116

2008 application guidelines : Community Development Assistance Program : economic development.

The following activities are considered ineligible. 1. Construction of buildings, or portions thereof, used predominantly for general conduct of government (e.g. city halls, courthouses, jails, police stations, etc.) 2. General government expenses. 3. Costs of operating and maintaining public facilities and services (e.g. mowing parks and replacing street light bulbs). 4. Servicing or refinancing existing debt.

A history of modern banks of issue, with an account of the economic crises of the nineteenth century and the crisis of 1907,

Mode of access: Internet.

Brasil: dinámica de la industria de bienes de capital en el ciclo de expansivo 2003-2008 y tras la crisis mundial

La industria de bienes de capital es esencial para el desarrollo tecnológico y para garantizar un crecimiento económico a largo plazo sin restricciones externas. En el Brasil, después de un largo período de estancamiento, las inversiones volvieron a crecer a partir de 2003, dando nuevo impulso a la industria de bienes de capital. Sin embargo, se trata de una industria bastante heterogénea; mientras que en algunos sectores no se logró cubrir la expansión de la demanda, esto fue posible en otros que evidenciaron un elevado potencial tecnológico, como los proveedores de máquinas para las industrias del petróleo, la minería y la construcción, y los fabricantes de equipos de transporte y de generación y distribución de energía eléctrica. Esos sectores continuaron expandiéndose incluso en el período posterior a la crisis mundial de 2008 y casi no fueron afectados por la competencia internacional.

Local-authority led economic regeneration strategies in the aftermath of the Foot-and-Mouth Disease crisis of 2001

The Foot-and-Mouth Disease (FMD) outbreak of 2001 in the UK was completely unprecedented in its scale and severity, with over four million animals culled and a cost to the Exchequer of over £4 billion. Local authorities were at the front line in dealing with the outbreak, in coordinating the cull of livestock, the disposal of carcasses as well as attempting to deal with its aftermath and, in particular, the impact on the wider rural economy. This article examines the impacts of this crisis on three local authorities, Devon, Herefordshire and Cumbria. It examines how far the crisis acted as a catalyst in developing strategies to deal with a future outbreak as well as new local initiatives to promote regeneration in the areas most adversely affected. It focuses on developments that can be directly attributed to the crisis and shows that FMD had a considerable impact on communications and 'joined-up' activity within local authorities and with local stakeholders. © 2006, LEPU, South Bank University.