“A response to the Chancellor’s new package of support” By Carl Emmerson, Tom Waters and Xiaowei Xu, courtesy of the Institute of Fiscal Studies The Chancellor, Rishi Sunak, has today announced a substantial package of support that will incentivise employers to keep hold of their employees over the next few months […]
Tag: fiscal policy
Germany must ensure liquidity to deal with trade collapse
“Corona crisis – liquidity takes priority” By Prof. Dr. Michael Grömling, Dr. Martin Beznoska, and Dr. Markus Demary, courtesy of IW Koeln In China it became apparent how an epidemic can directly affect the production potential of an economy when large numbers of workers have to be quarantined. Through a variety of intermediate […]
Breaking the “black zero”: Germany has room to spend more
“How much space for fiscal expansion? Germany falls victim to ‘output gap nonsense’” By Philipp Heimberger, courtesy of WIIW The German economy is in a downturn. The growth rate is currently among the lowest in the euro area, and numerous economic research institutes have revised their forecasts downwards. German industry is already in recession. In […]
Yes, it’s time for Germany to spend on infrastructure and environment
“Make investments possible!” By Hubertus Bardt and Michael Hüther, courtesy of IW Koeln Germany faces enormous challenges in modernizing its capital stock. After neglecting public investment over the last two decades, it is now necessary to update the infrastructure and gradually reduce the investment backlog. Managing demographic aging and decarbonising the economy […]
UK council finances are unsustainable, new model urgently needed
TPA responds to IFS report on council tax By Harry Fone, courtesy of Taxpayers’ Alliance A new report released by the Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS) has analysed funding for local authorities and made a series of recommendations. Few would challenge the IFS’ argument that the present funding model is unsustainable and alternative […]
EU transfers fuel corruption, white collar crime
“There is a case for reforming the long-term EU budget” Courtesy of Open Europe On October 21th 2019, Open Europe’s Pieter Cleppe gave evidence to the Committee on EU Affairs of Germany’s Parliament in Berlin, discussing the long term EU budget 2021-2027, which is currently being negotiated. A briefing provided by Pieter Cleppe detailing how […]
“This is a mess”: QE isn’t working – and neither is government
By Erik Sass, TES Editor-in-Chief Collectively and individually the countries of Europe face economic problems that they are either unwilling or unable to confront due to a lack of political courage, despite the availability of effective remedies. That was the bleak takeaway from a panel discussion of economic and political experts at the […]
UK can’t afford to live in fiscal fantasy land
“Budget or no budget, with borrowing now on the rise again fiscal realities can’t just be wished away” By Carl Emmerson, Paul Johnson and Isabel Stockton, courtesy of IFS Today was the intended date of Sajid Javid’s first Budget as Chancellor. The failure to implement a Brexit deal, and the general election campaign, […]
“Both parties have abandoned fiscal restraint”
“Both parties have “abandoned fiscal restraint” in favour of more borrowing” By Prof. Syed Kamall, courtesy of IEA Today’s election speeches show both parties have abandoned fiscal restraint in favour of increases in public spending to be paid for through extra borrowing. The Labour Shadow Chancellor has pledged to more than […]
Germany must finally spend more, very carefully and precisely
“Notorious” and “prudent” are not words often found together, but it is fair to say that Germany is notoriously prudent with its national finances, thanks to a longstanding rule requiring politicians to balance the federal budget — an unimaginable scenario in virtually any other country. The […]