The Systemic Risk Board: A return to the EMS

By: Casper de Vries

The board has no clear goal, no instruments or any power; at best it can collect and disseminate information on systemic risk.

The banking crisis - a rational interpretation

By: Patrick Minford

An unfashionable defense of rational expectation models.

How to tax banks

By: Paul de Grauwe

The Tobin tax is not effective. A much better way to tax banks is to force them to retain, and pay for, the government guarantees of their lending.

The Primacy of Politics

By: Barry Eichengreen

Politicians managed to ward off a Great Depression. But they did little more. A Japanese scenario is now becoming very likely.

In search of a Goldilocks exit strategy

By: Jean Pisani Ferry

Countries should start to prepare their exit strategies now even if it is still too early to act. A credible exit strategy would help calm down bond markets and keep inflation expectations low. The challenges are to decide on when retrenchment should start, how to coordinate with other EU states and which policy to start with.

Government debts are unsustainable and desirable

By: Paul de Grauwe, K.U. Leuven and CEPS

There is no doubt that government deficits are unsustainable. But this does not imply that they are undesirable today. The uncomfortable truth is that in order for private debt levels to become sustainable again, government debt must temporarily become unsustainable.

Keynes' savings paradox, Fisher's debt deflation and the banking crisis

By: Paul de Grauwe

There are four deflationary spirals presently at work: the Keynesian savings paradox, Fisher’s debt deflation, the cost cutting deflation, and the bank credit deflation. Each of these can be dealt with when they occur in isolation. They become lethal when they interact with each other.

The looming divide within Europe

By: Zsolt Darvas and Jean Pisani-Ferry, Bruegel

New EU member states are at a disadvantage due to a combination of own policy errors and euro area policy responses to the financial crisis.

Ireland's painful adjustment

By: Alan Ahearne, NUI Galway and Bruegel

After the benefits of EMU, now come the costs.

Was monetary policy too tight after the crisis?

By: Patrick Minford, Cardiff University and CEPR

Yes, at least in Europe.

Money market on strike

By: Casper de Vries (Erasmus University Rotterdam) and Jon Danielsson (LSE)

A proposal on how to address information asymmetry.

How abnormal was the stock market in October 2008?

By: Paul De Grauwe, Leonardo Iania, Pablo Rovira Kaltwasser

Last month saw a stock market move with a probability of occurring only once in 73,357,946,799,753,

900,000,000 years. What does this tell us about modern finance?