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.
Twitter
Eurozone: Time for damage limitation
09 December 2010
Time is running out to prevent the eurozone crisis from imperilling Europe's banking system and with it the integrity of the currency union. It is beholden on policy-makers to minimise the economic (and hence political costs) to the EU.
The eurozone enters a critical phase
01 December 2010
On November 21st Ireland accepted financial support totalling around €90 billion from the EU and the International Monetary Fund (IMF). There was an awful inevitability about this outcome.
Eurozone policy-makers are playing with fire
15 November 2010
There is an awful inevitability about the latest instalment of the eurozone crisis, which looks highly likely to culminate in Ireland being forced to seek a bailout from the European Financial Stability Fund (EFSF).
What currency wars mean for the eurozone
15 October 2010
The dollar has now fallen to $1.40 against the euro. This is still below the low of almost $1.60 that it reached in the middle in July 2008, but it represents a steep decline from under $1.20 in early June. Moreover, the US currency is likely to weaken further.
How to save the euro
14 September 2010
Current efforts to reform the eurozone are set to fall dramatically short of what is required to secure the future of the single currency. Poor economic growth prospects, rather than fiscal ill-discipline, lie at the heart of the currency union's problems.
The eurozone retreats into a beggar-thy-neighbour cul-de-sac
14 June 2010
Almost every member of the eurozone is rushing to slash public spending. While there is no doubting the scale of the fiscal challenge, the eurozone economy is not strong enough to cope with the contractionary effects of a generalised budgetary tightening.
The euro's reality gap
01 June 2010
Europe faces a critical choice between greater integration or disintegration. The gap between the rhetoric of a united Europe and the reality of national interests and politics has always dogged the EU.
Business leaders risk discrediting markets
13 May 2010
Despite their battered reputation, markets remain the best way of generating economic growth. But the market economy faces a crisis of legitimacy brought about by rising inequality and a breakdown of the relationship between risk and reward.
Closing the gap between rhetoric and reality is key to the euro's survival
10 May 2010
Europe faces a critical choice between greater integration and disintegration. The gap between the rhetoric of a united and integrated Europe and the reality of national interests and politics has always dogged Europe.
Turning Japanese?
30 April 2010
Japan has long had the highest level of public debt of any developed economy. The country’s public debt to GDP ratio is around 200 per cent of GDP, far in excess of even the EU’s worst performers.