Download or read book Progress Towards External Adjustment in the Euro Area Periphery and the Baltics written by Mr.Joong S Kang and published by International Monetary Fund. This book was released on 2014-07-22 with total page 31 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The euro area periphery countries and the Baltic countries, which had large current account deficits in the run-up to the crisis, needed adjustment of relative prices to achieve both internal and external balances. Thus far, tangible progress has been made through lower wages and/or higher productivity relative to trading partners (“internal devaluation”), which contributed to narrowing current account deficits and shifting output towards the tradables sector. While some early adjusters cut wages more rapidly followed by productivity improvement, others have only slowly improved productivity largely through labor shedding. This adjustment for most countries has come along with a substantial recession as the unit labor cost improvement has largely come from falling employment and much of the current account improvement from import compression. Going forward, these countries still need to generate growing tradables sector employment and to continue adjustment to prevent imbalances from returning as output gaps close.

Download or read book Progress Towards External Adjustment in the Euro Area Periphery and the Baltics written by Mr.Joong S Kang and published by International Monetary Fund. This book was released on 2014-07-22 with total page 31 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The euro area periphery countries and the Baltic countries, which had large current account deficits in the run-up to the crisis, needed adjustment of relative prices to achieve both internal and external balances. Thus far, tangible progress has been made through lower wages and/or higher productivity relative to trading partners (“internal devaluation”), which contributed to narrowing current account deficits and shifting output towards the tradables sector. While some early adjusters cut wages more rapidly followed by productivity improvement, others have only slowly improved productivity largely through labor shedding. This adjustment for most countries has come along with a substantial recession as the unit labor cost improvement has largely come from falling employment and much of the current account improvement from import compression. Going forward, these countries still need to generate growing tradables sector employment and to continue adjustment to prevent imbalances from returning as output gaps close.

Download or read book Adjustment in Euro Area Deficit Countries written by Mr.Thierry Tressel and published by International Monetary Fund. This book was released on 2014-07-14 with total page 34 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Imbalances within the euro area have been a defining feature of the crisis. This paper provides a critical analysis of the ongoing rebalancing of euro area “deficit economies” (Greece, Ireland, Portugal, and Spain) that accumulated large current account deficits and external liability positions in the run-up to the crisis. It shows that relative price adjustments have been proceeding gradually. Real effective exchange rates have depreciated by 10-25 percent, driven largely by reductions in unit labor costs due to labor shedding. While exports have typically rebounded, subdued demand accounts for much of the reduction in current account deficits. Hence, the current account balance of the euro area as a whole has shifted into surplus. Internal rebalancing has come with subdued activity—notably very high unemployment in the deficit economies—and made continued adjustment more difficult. To advance rebalancing further, the paper emphasizes the need for: (1) macroeconomic policies that support demand and bring inflation in line with the ECB’s medium-term price stability objective; (2) continued EMU reforms (banking union) to ensure proper financial intermediation; and (3) structural reforms in product and labor markets to improve productivity and support the reallocation of resources to tradable sectors.

Download or read book Research Bulletin June 2014 written by International Monetary Fund. Research Dept. and published by International Monetary Fund. This book was released on 2014-06-09 with total page 14 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Articles in the June 2014 issue of the IMF Research Bulletin look at “The Rise and Fall of Current Account Deficits in the Euro Area Periphery and the Baltics” (Joong Shik Kang and Jay C. Shambaugh) and “The Two Sides of the Same Coin?: Rebalancing and Inclusive Growth in China” (Il Houng Lee, Murtaza Syed, and Xin Wang). The Q&A looks at “Seven Questions on the Monetary Transmission Mechanism in Low-Income Countries” (Andrew Berg, Luisa Charry, Rafael A. Portillo, and Jan Vleck). This issue of the Research Bulletin includes updated listings of IMF Working Papers, Staff Discussion Notes, and Recommended Readings from the IMF Bookstore. Readers can also find information on free access to a featured article from “IMF Economic Review.”

Download or read book Supranational Governance at Stake written by Mario Telò and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2020-05-01 with total page 269 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book examines the varied competences of the European Union (EU) in relation to its capacity to externalize its policy preferences. Specifically, it explores the continued resilience within the EU’s policy toolbox of supranational modes of governance beyond the State. The book first situates European experiences of supranationality in relations to the wide variety of regional and global modes of governance it comes into contact with when seeking to deal with an increasingly complex and fragmented international environment. Over the course of its subsequent sections, the book analyses the resilience, flexibility and adaptability of the EU’s supranational practices across a significant cross-section of policy fields, for example, Area Freedom of Justice, Justice and Security; Socio-economic Governance; or Trade Policies. Overall, these chapters unpack the impact of the EU’s internal institutional complexity on the EU's external capacity to export its preferences in an increasingly fragmented international environment. This in turn, sees the book also question whether the EU has the institutional tools to guarantee and implement consistency between its internal and external policies. This book will be of key interest to scholars and students of EU politics/studies and more broadly to International relations, International/EU Law, comparative regionalism, international political economy, security studies, international law.

Download or read book Ireland written by International Monetary Fund. Finance Dept. and published by International Monetary Fund. This book was released on 2015-01-29 with total page 60 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This paper presents an Ex Post Evaluation of the 2010 Extended Fund Facility (EFF) arrangement with Ireland. The Fund approved in December 2010 an exceptional access EFF arrangement for SDR 19.466 billion (2,321.8 percent of quota) in support of Ireland’s home-grown program and as part of a broader financing package of Ireland and its European partners. The program focused on addressing the Irish banking crisis to break the adverse feedback loop between banks, the sovereign, and the real sector. It aimed to restore the banking system to health, including by establishing a smaller banking sector with high capital buffers and more stable funding sources; and to secure fiscal sustainability while limiting the near-term demand drag from fiscal consolidation. Large external financing was a key element of the crisis response. Program implementation was very strong. The program succeeded in stabilizing the banking sector and reducing its size, and fiscal developments were also broadly as anticipated. Domestic demand was, however, weaker than programmed and unemployment remained high, amid a very challenging external environment. Program success, including regaining market access at low interest rates, benefitted also from actions at the wider euro area level. The Ex Post Evaluation draws several lessons from Ireland’s experience under the EFF: ? The main lessons emerge from what worked well: Strong country ownership, setting (and meeting) realistic and tailored targets were key for success, combined with effective communication and pro-active engagement. Addressing a banking crisis requires strong and credible actions upfront. ? Some areas offer lessons for future program design: While the main pillars of the financial sector program were sound, more proactive and stronger supervisory interventions and other supportive steps could have strengthened banks’ balance sheets and bank profitability and helped resolve problem loans; bank recapitalization should be limited to those with viable medium-term business strategies; unsecured and non-guaranteed creditors of failed banks should be bailed in, provided a strategy to ring fence potential systemic risks can be put in place; macro-financial linkages require careful attention and timely steps to limit sovereignbanking sector feedback loops; fiscal policy has to be mindful of debt sustainability but also of domestic demand conditions, and it needs a clear anchor. ? There are also lessons related to Fund policies: Ireland’s EFF underscores the importance of addressing shortcomings of the systemic exemption clause in Criterion 2 of the exceptional access criteria; and it suggests the need to explore ways to secure stronger upfront commitments from monetary union authorities, when those are critical for program success.

Download or read book The Evolution of Current Account Deficits in the Euro Area Periphery and the Baltics written by Mr.Joong Kang and published by International Monetary Fund. This book was released on 2013-07-17 with total page 23 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Explanations of the large current account deficits for the euro area periphery and the Baltics in the run up to the crisis revolve around two main factors: deteriorating export performance or demand driven booms. We add that there were important movements in transfers and net income balances. While export performance remained relatively stable in most countries, for some countries, when transfers declined, households and firms borrowed so as to maintain the same level of spending. This was part of a persistent failure to adjust to trade deficits, which, along with rising net income payments, led to growing current account deficits. All of these factors played varying roles in the development of current account deficits across these countries.

Download or read book World Economic Outlook October 2017 written by International Monetary Fund. Research Dept. and published by International Monetary Fund. This book was released on 2017-10-10 with total page 304 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The global upswing in economic activity is strengthening. Global growth, which in 2016 was the weakest since the global financial crisis at 3.2 percent, is projected to rise to 3.6 percent in 2017 and to 3.7 percent in 2018. The growth forecasts for both 2017 and 2018 are 0.1 percentage point stronger compared with projections earlier this year. Broad-based upward revisions in the euro area, Japan, emerging Asia, emerging Europe, and Russia—where growth outcomes in the first half of 2017 were better than expected—more than offset downward revisions for the United States and the United Kingdom. But the recovery is not complete: while the baseline outlook is strengthening, growth remains weak in many countries, and inflation is below target in most advanced economies. Commodity exporters, especially of fuel, are particularly hard hit as their adjustment to a sharp step down in foreign earnings continues. And while short-term risks are broadly balanced, medium-term risks are still tilted to the downside. The welcome cyclical pickup in global activity thus provides an ideal window of opportunity to tackle the key policy challenges—namely to boost potential output while ensuring its benefits are broadly shared, and to build resilience against downside risks. A renewed multilateral effort is also needed to tackle the common challenges of an integrated global economy.

Download or read book IMF Research Bulletin September 2014 written by International Monetary Fund. Research Dept. and published by International Monetary Fund. This book was released on 2014-10-11 with total page 18 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This issue of the IMF Research Bulletin opens with a letter from the new editor, Rabah Arezki. The Research Summaries are a "Primer on 'Global Liquidity'" (Eugenio Cerutti, Stijn Claessens, and Lev Ratnovski); and "Trade Integration adn Business Cycle Synchronization" (Kevin Cheng, Romain Duval, and Dulani Senevirante). The Q&A column looks at "Seven Questions on the Global Housing Markets" (Hites Ahir, Heedon Kang, and Prakash Loungani). September 2014 issue of the Bulletin also includes updates on IMF Working Papers, Staff Discussion Notes, and Recommended Readings from the IMF Bookstore, as well as special announcements on new staff publications and the Fifteenth Annual Jacques Polak Research Conference. Also included is information on the latest issue of “IMF Economic Review” with a link to an article by Paul Krugman.

Download or read book More Slack than Meets the Eye Recent Wage Dynamics in Advanced Economies written by Mr.Gee Hee Hong and published by International Monetary Fund. This book was released on 2018-03-09 with total page 44 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Nominal wage growth in most advanced economies remains markedly lower than it was before the Great Recession of 2008–09. This paper finds that the bulk of the wage slowdown is accounted for by labor market slack, inflation expectations, and trend productivity growth. In particular, there appears to be greater slack than meets the eye. Involuntary part-time employment appears to have weakened wage growth even in economies where headline unemployment rates are now at, or below, their averages in the years leading up to the recession.

Download or read book Global Financial Stability Report April 2012 written by International Monetary Fund. Monetary and Capital Markets Department and published by International Monetary Fund. This book was released on 2012-04-18 with total page 94 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The April 2012 Global Financial Stability Report assesses changes in risks to financial stability over the past six months, focusing on sovereign vulnerabilities, risks stemming from private sector deleveraging, and assessing the continued resilience of emerging markets. The report probes the implications of recent reforms in the financial system for market perception of safe assets, and investigates the growing public and private costs of increased longevity risk from aging populations.

Download or read book Rebalancing in the Euro Area and Cyclicality of Current Account Adjustments written by Mr.Thierry Tressel and published by International Monetary Fund. This book was released on 2014-07-22 with total page 31 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The paper examines progress with the external rebalancing of euro area deficit countries. Relative prices are adjusting at different pace across countries and with different compositions of wage cuts and labor shedding. There is so far limited evidence of resource re-allocation from non-tradable to tradable sectors, while improved export performance is still dependent on external demand from the rest of world. Current account adjustments have taken place, reflecting structural changes but also cyclical forces, suggesting that part of the improvements may unwind when cyclical conditions improve. Looking ahead, relying only on relative price adjustments (which adversely affects demand) to rebalance the euro area could prove very challenging. Structural reforms will play an important role in the reallocation of resources to the tradable sector and the associated relative price adjustment, while boosting non-price and price competitiveness.

Download or read book Core periphery Relations in the European Union written by José Magone and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2016-02-26 with total page 341 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Successive Enlargements to the European Union membership have transformed it into an economically, politically and culturally heterogeneous body with distinct vulnerabilities in its multi-level governance. This book analyses core-periphery relations to highlight the growing cleavage, and potential conflict, between the core and peripheral member-states of the Union in the face of the devastating consequences of Eurozone crisis. Taking a comparative and theoretical approach and using a variety of case studies, it examines how the crisis has both exacerbated tensions in centre-periphery relations within and outside the Eurozone, and how the European Union’s economic and political status is declining globally. This text will be of key interest to students and scholars of European Union studies, European integration, political economy, public policy, and comparative politics.

Download or read book The Year the European Crisis Ended written by E. Jones and published by Springer. This book was released on 2017-02-24 with total page 144 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The author narrates the end of the European crisis from the June 2012 European Council summit through the bailout of Cyprus. Paying particular attention to political developments in Italy, the book shows the fragility of market confidence and the waving attitudes of political elites.

Download or read book World Economic Outlook October 2013 written by International Monetary Fund. Research Dept. and published by International Monetary Fund. This book was released on 2013-10-08 with total page 657 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Global growth is in low gear, and the drivers of activity are changing. These dynamics raise new policy challenges. Advanced economies are growing again but must continue financial sector repair, pursue fiscal consolidation, and spur job growth. Emerging market economies face the dual challenges of slowing growth and tighter global financial conditions. This issue of the World Economic Outlook examines the potential spillovers from these transitions and the appropriate policy responses. Chapter 3 explores how output comovements are influenced by policy and financial shocks, growth surprises, and other linkages. Chapter 4 assesses why certain emerging market economies were able to avoid the classical boom-and-bust cycle in the face of volatile capital flows during the global financial crisis.

Download or read book Five Years of an Enlarged EU written by Filip Keereman and published by Springer Science & Business Media. This book was released on 2010-07-23 with total page 275 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Fifth Enlargement that took place in 2004 and 2007 was a milestone in the history of the European Union. Not only because of the large number of acceding countries but also because of their recent political and economic experience. Ten of them had undergone a profound transition from a totalitarian regime to democracy, and from a centrally planned economy to a market-based system. Most of them had income levels signi?cantly below those of the then EU-15. Now, 6 years later, we can clearly see that the process of European integration, both before and after 2004, was what enabled Europe to overcome the gaps between various parts of the continent. The enlargement made Europe a better and wealthier place and streng- ened its position in the world. Integration into the European Union has always been one of the strongest incentives for reform in the new Member States. Particularly important in my view have been the development of ?nancial markets through foreign direct investment and capital in?ows, and the opening of labour markets – which was a two-way phenomenon, with markets being opened up in acceding as well as the incumbent Member States. The Fifth Enlargement was thus an exercise of glo- lisation in miniature, a practice run for the Union to tackle the challenges of the ever smaller world.

Download or read book International Financial Statistics written by International Monetary Fund. Statistics Dept. and published by International Monetary Fund. This book was released on 2013-06-28 with total page 817 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: International Financial Statistics