Research-based policy analysis and commentary from leading economists

global economic trends GDP has some issues in measurement, which are briefly described in section IV, the data sources. However, the trends reported below seem consistent with many other trends in other areas (e.g., demographic, political, technological). See our other reports for further details. Return to top Economic Structure The Euro in a Shrinking Zone - Robert Skidelsky Exit from comment view mode. Click to hide this space LONDON – The recent European Union summit was a disaster.

Taxation of the financial sector - European commission The Financial Transaction Tax (FTT) The proposal of 14 February 2013…and the way ahead The original proposal of 28 September 2011…and its fate Is the FTT as proposed in compliance with international taxation and European law? Introduction to P-CED P-CED is a partner in the Charter for Compassion P-CED places people at the center of economic development. P-CED takes the bottom line one step further: to people, past numbers.

The Origins of the Greek Financial Crisis Before the modern Greek state assumed its present day contours in the aftermath of the first world war, communities in the trading cities of Alexandria, Odessa, Salonika, Smyrna, and Trieste, already had a long history of running their own school systems, hospitals, and orphanages. This was partly a legacy of Ottoman rule. With the exception of political stability, the Ottomans were not in the habit of providing public goods so, when it came to public health and economic development, citizens had to fend for themselves. That system worked. Through local and communal organization, by the mid to late nineteenth century, the Greeks were one of the most prosperous and dynamic groups in Southeast Europe. Once the Greek state was fully formed, however, a central administrative structure took over communal institutions.

London vs. the Eurozone - Howard Davies Exit from comment view mode. Click to hide this space LONDON – Ever since the United Kingdom joined the European Economic Community in 1973, after the French withdrew Charles de Gaulle’s veto of its membership, Britain’s relationship with the European integration process has been strained. The British are reluctant Europeans, for historical and cultural reasons. For centuries, British foreign policy strove to avoid permanent European entanglements; but, most importantly, it aimed to prevent a single continental power from achieving dominance – especially if that power happened to be France. In the meantime, the British colonized large portions of the globe.

Rational Irrationality: The Message from Britain: A Failed Experiment in Austerity Policies With the euro zone on the brink of breaking up, it is easy to overlook events across the English Channel, but what is happening to the U.K. arguably has more important lessons for the U.S. In continental Europe, we are witnessing the crisis of a poorly designed monetary system that is very different from our own. In the U.K., we are seeing the results of monumental policy blunders that could well be repeated here if Republican budget hawks seize power next November.

29/11 2011 - A turning point in British history 30 November 2011Last updated at 12:38 Yesterday will be seen as a landmark in British economic history, and in British politics. It will relegate George Osborne's emergency budget of June 2010 to a footnote and elevate Robert Chote's happy-go-lucky assessment of our economic prospects in November 2010 to the status of a case study in predictive failure. Because yesterday's Autumn Statement will set the political tone of the decade: it will tie the hands of future governments; and it has already brought a philosophical debate on the British right to an abrupt end. Within six hours of their tight-lipped ordeal on the government benches, Lib Dem MPs heard Danny Alexander pledge them to go into the 2015 election fully committed to £30bn more austerity than they signed up for in the Coalition Agreement.

The 70% Solution - J. Bradford DeLong Exit from comment view mode. Click to hide this space BERKELEY – Via a circuitous Internet chain – Paul Krugman of Princeton University quoting Mark Thoma of the University of Oregon reading the Journal of Economic Perspectives – I got a copy of an article written by Emmanuel Saez, whose office is 50 feet from mine, on the same corridor, and the Nobel laureate economist Peter Diamond. Saez and Diamond argue that the right marginal tax rate for North Atlantic societies to impose on their richest citizens is 70%. It is an arresting assertion, given the tax-cut mania that has prevailed in these societies for the past 30 years, but Diamond and Saez’s logic is clear. The superrich command and control so many resources that they are effectively satiated: increasing or decreasing how much wealth they have has no effect on their happiness.

Greek Economists for Reform.com The article below, written by Yannis Ioannides and Chris Pissarides, is part of the ongoing discussion on this blog about the costs and benefits for Greece to continue being part of the Eurozone. The authors argue that Greece has a strong interest to stay in the Euro. A shorter version of this article in Greek was published by Kathimerini, November 27, 2011. The full article of Yannis Ioannides and Chris Pissarides How Italy's Democracy Leads to Financial Crisis The replacement of former Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi with Mario Monti, a former European commissioner, last week marks a new stage in the European financial crisis. Along with bond values, the crisis now seems to be wiping out democratically elected governments. Faced with unbearable market pressure, Italian politicians have opted to hand power to technocrats, expecting that they will somehow enjoy greater legitimacy as they impose painful measures on an angry population. This will not work. On one level, Italy's problems are less acute than those facing the region's other troubled economies.

Can Italy Be Saved? - Michael Spence Exit from comment view mode. Click to hide this space MILAN – As the economist Mario Monti’s new government takes office in Italy, much is at stake – for the country, for Europe, and for the global economy. If reforms falter, public finances collapse, and anemic growth persists, Italy’s commitment to the euro will diminish as the perceived costs of membership come to outweigh the benefits.