Simon Tilford

Simon Tilford

Associate fellow
Areas of expertise 

Britain and Europe, the euro, fiscal and monetary policy, labour and social policy, competition, innovation, environmental economics and demographics.

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Global trade imbalances threaten free trade

Global trade imbalances threaten free trade

17 October 2011
The G20 needs a strategy to rebalance demand between the surplus and deficit economies if the world is to avoid a slide into protectionism.
Eurozone crisis: Higher inflation is part of the answer

Eurozone crisis: Higher inflation is part of the answer

03 October 2011
The ECB’s inflation target is too low for a currency union. It risks depressing economic growth and makes it hard for countries like Spain and Italy to regain competitiveness.
The euro: Reaching the endgame?

The euro: Reaching the endgame?

19 September 2011
Eurozone policy-makers have dug in their feet, preferring to deepen the crisis than admit their mistakes. Unless reason trumps moral posturing soon, dissolution of the eurozone is inevitable.

Why the eurozone needs debt mutualisation

28 July 2011
The attempt to run a common monetary policy without a common treasury has failed. Debt mutualisation is necessary if the eurozone is to survive.
Innovation: How Europe can take off

Innovation: How Europe can take off

08 July 2011
Every EU government supports innovation, believing that it will help Europe to meet the numerous economic, social and environmental challenges that it faces.
Germany's brief moment in the sun

Germany's brief moment in the sun

27 June 2011
Four years ago, Germany was widely seen as the sick man of Europe, beset by weak economic growth, a fast-ageing population and a pervasive sense of angst about the future.
Insight

Debt restructuring will not end the euro crisis

09 May 2011
Even as the ink is still drying on Portugal’s EU/IMF ‘bail-out’ agreement, it is becoming clear that Greece’s 2010 bail-out has failed to improve the sustainability of its public finances.
Europe's damaging obsession with 'competitiveness'

Europe's damaging obsession with 'competitiveness'

31 March 2011
Many European policy-makers and business leaders believe that a country's economic growth prospects depend on its ability to capture a growing share of global markets.
Is Germany really rebalancing?

Is Germany really rebalancing?

01 February 2011
Germany has rightly been criticised for its dependence on exports and its huge trade surpluses. In normal times, when economies are growing healthily, trade imbalances pose less of a problem.
Euro crisis: In defence of investors

Euro crisis: In defence of investors

17 January 2011
The eurozone’s fiscal position is better than the US and UK, and the crisis-hit members of the currency union are doing more to strengthen their public finances than either of these countries.