Single market, competition & trade

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Business leaders risk discrediting markets

Business leaders risk discrediting markets

Simon Tilford
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

Closing the gap between rhetoric and reality is key to the euro's survival

Simon Tilford
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.
The dangers of a disgruntled Germany

The dangers of a disgruntled Germany

Katinka Barysch
07 May 2010
Germany has finally agreed to help bail out Greece. The negotiations were acrimonious and took months. Angela Merkel’s hesitation and prevarication have increased the cost of the bail-out and unsettled financial markets.
Turning Japanese?

Turning Japanese?

Simon Tilford
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.
Whatever happened to the G20?

Whatever happened to the G20?

Katinka Barysch
14 April 2010
George W Bush convened the first G20 summit in Washington in November 2008, at the height of the global financial and economic crisis. At two further summits in 2009, G20 leaders pledged to co-ordinate their economic stimulus packages (as well as exit strategies), avoid protectionism, address global imbalances, triple the resources of the IMF, and work out stricter rules for banks, hedge funds and other financial players.
There can be no eurozone stability without economic growth

There can be no eurozone stability without economic growth

Simon Tilford
01 April 2010
The German government believes that tougher fiscal rules are the solution to current strains in the eurozone. No doubt such rules are necessary. But they are not enough.
Germany

Why Christine Lagarde is right about Germany

Philip Whyte
26 March 2010
Greece’s recent fiscal travails have, slightly unexpectedly, thrown the spotlight on Germany’s current-account surplus. In mid-March, France’s finance minister, Christine Lagarde, urged Germany to do more to boost domestic demand – a call echoed by the European Commission’s president, José Manuel Barroso.
The Lisbon scorecard X: The road to 2020

The Lisbon scorecard X: The road to 2020

Simon Tilford, Philip Whyte
15 March 2010
The EU's Lisbon agenda has failed to deliver what it promised. Although most member-states have made some progress towards the targets they set themselves in 2000, their commitment to reform has been half-hearted.
It’s the economics, stupid

It’s the economics, stupid

Simon Tilford
26 February 2010
There was always a risk that a one-size-fits-all monetary policy would lead to big divergences in inflation and competitiveness across the eurozone. This, in turn, would result in trade imbalances which would be difficult to reverse.
How to build an EU energy market

How to build an EU energy market

Katinka Barysch
18 February 2010
Unbundling the supply of energy from its transport, moving Europe towards a low-carbon energy system, and getting the Nabucco pipeline built – these were the priorities of the last energy commissioner, Andris Piebalgs. His successor, Günther Oettinger, will write his own to-do list. The EU now has a dedicated climate change commissioner, Connie Hedegard, with whom Oettinger will have to work closely.
The new Commission's economic philosophy

The new Commission's economic philosophy

Charles Grant, Katinka Barysch, Philip Whyte, Simon Tilford
08 February 2010
The broad orientation of the Commission's economic policy is unlikely to change. It will continue to defend the single market, free trade and a tough competition policy.
Education

Why education should be at the heart of EU2020

Philip Whyte
01 February 2010
At their summit in March, EU heads of state and government must decide what should succeed the Lisbon agenda – the ambitious programme of supply-side reforms that was launched in 2000.
How to restore financial stability

How to restore financial stability

Philip Whyte
12 January 2010
In 2008, the global financial system came close to collapse. Ever since, policy-makers have been busy overhauling the way it is regulated and supervised. Will this flurry of activity produce a more stable financial system – and if it does, at what cost?
Sharing the burden of a weaker dollar file thumbnail

Sharing the burden of a weaker dollar

Simon Tilford
01 December 2009
The eurozone has suffered a deep recession – bigger than the US and about as bad as that in the UK. Public finances across the eurozone have worsened dramatically, and in some cases now look perilous.
What Eastern Europe can learn from the crisis

What Eastern Europe can learn from the crisis

Katinka Barysch
11 November 2009
It is 20 years since the Berlin Wall crumbled and political and economic freedom started spreading through Eastern Europe. Today, however, the region is mired in deep recession.
Rebalancing the Chinese economy

Rebalancing the Chinese economy

Simon Tilford
02 November 2009
China's economy and society are undergoing an extraordinary transformation, with hundreds of millions of people escaping poverty in record time. But the country's development model is not sustainable economically or politically.