ECB chief calls for global tightening

Public spending cuts and tax increases should be imposed immediately across the industrialised world as evidence of a healthy European recovery mounts, according to Jean-Claude Trichet, president of the European Central Bank.

Read this article in the FT here.

Préformateur: accord de principe sur la scission des allocations familiales

La question sur la scission de la politique du marché du travail a également bien progressé. Les allocations de chômage continueraient à être du ressort fédéral.

Lisez l'article dans LLB ici.

World Investment Report 2010: investing in a low-carbon economy

Read this UNCTAD report here.

De Mad Max-paradox (Kapitalisme 4.0)

In het nieuwe kapitalisme staan flexibiliteit en experimenteren centraal: zowel in de economie, de institutionele organisatie als het overheidsbeleid. Lees het volledige opiniestuk van Peter Dekeyzer in Trends hier.

Voters Rate the Parties' Ideologies

Dems Viewed as Farther from Political Center than is GOP. Read the results of the People's Press poll here.

Too Weak? Concerns Grow over Rigorousness of EU Stress Tests

With the results of European bank stress tests to be released on Friday, some analysts fear that if too few financial institutions fail, the tests will not be be taken seriously. One report indicates that only a single German bank will fail: Munich's Hypo Real Estate. Read the complete article in Der Spiegel International here.

Sow the seeds of long-term growth

"The world economy is entering a new phase after the failure of fiscal stimulus to create a sustained recovery in either the US or Europe. In the US, consumers have retrenched, housing starts have crashed and a double-dip recession is possible. In Europe, fiscal retrenchment is under way after intense market pressures. A new approach to recovery is needed." Read the complete opinion article of Jeffrey Sachs in the Financial Times here.

Joint report on social protection and social inclusion 2010

The Joint Report on Social Protection and Social Inclusion 2010 covers a range of areas including social inclusion policy, housing, healthcare, the impact of the economic crisis on pension systems and governance. It examines the social situation in EU27 before and in the economic and financial crisis and looks at Member States initial responses and preparations made for recovery. The report also includes country profiles on homelessness and housing exclusion for each EU Member State.

Read this EC report here.

The employment dimension of economic greening

The concept of 'going green' is spreading in the EU and is having a significant impact on the economy. This greening of the economy is expected to have wide-spread effects on EU industries and the labour market. This European Employment Observatory Review looks at the influence of the greening of the economy on European employment. The report analyses both the risks and benefits of the green economy and identifies measures that can be taken to limit such risks.

Read this EC report here.

Why are we fat? Discussions on the socioeconomic dimensions and responses to obesity

Read this report from Globalization and Health here.

Double-Dip Days

"So, as the optimists’ delusional hopes for a rapid V-shaped recovery evaporate, the advanced world will be at best in a long U-shaped recovery, which in some cases – the eurozone and Japan – may be long enough to stretch into an L-shaped near-depression. Avoiding double dip recession will be difficult." Read Nouriel Roubini's column for Project Syndicate here.

Tax policies for low-carbon energy

Economists often advocate taxes or cap-and-trade schemes to fight pollution, but US policy primarily subsidises clean energy alternatives. This column of Gilbert E. Metcalf critiques such subsidies on four counts: they lower the cost of energy, pick favourite technologies, are often “inframarginal”, and interact in unexpected ways with other policies. Read the complete piece on VOXEU here.

Double Dip? Seven Reasons Why Not

It seems these days that half the headlines in the financial media fear a double-dip recession, as do half the conversations on Wall Street. There certainly are risks, not least in Europe’s financial difficulties. But still, there are reasons to question such widespread concerns. History, after all, offers only one true double-dip experience, and that grew out of a policy error. More, the actual data on the economy fly in the face of such an outlook. Following are seven reasons to doubt the double-dip outlook. Read the complete article in the Wall Street Journal here.

Nog 11 jaar vooraleer de Amerikaanse arbeidsmarkt de crisis heeft verteerd

Overigens zou in België de werkgelegenheid in 2012 opnieuw het pré-crisisniveau (van 2008) halen van 4.460.847 banen volgens het Federaal Planbureau. Lees het volledige artikel in Trends hier.

Le nouveau modèle de croissance britannique

Dans le premier budget du gouvernement de coalition du Royaume-Uni, le gouvernement britannique a exposé un plan sur cinq ans pour reconstruire l'économie britannique sur les bases de la responsabilité, de la liberté et de l'équité. Ce plan assume le passé et prépare l'avenir ...

Lisez cet article sur LesEchos.fr ici.

"Europe 2020" indicators

Find these Eurostat statistics here.

Taxer les plus de 50 ans pour financer la dépendance des seniors

Lors de son entretien télévisé du 12 juillet, Nicolas Sarkozy a confirmé son intention, sitôt achevée la réforme des retraites, d'engager le dernier grand chantier de la législature : la prise en charge de la dépendance.

Lisez l'article complet dans Le Monde ici.

Europeans Cast Critical Eye on Homeopathy

Read the complete article in Der Spiegel International here.

After Tumult, Debt Worries Ease in Europe

Read the complete article in the NYTimes here.

Median Duration of Unemployment

What differentiates this recession from the past ones in terms of duration of unemployment? Mankiw provides the answer here.

Double-Dip Days

Read Roubini's article on Project Syndicate here.

Crisis, What crisis? Patterns of Adaptation in European Labor Markets

The current crisis, while of a global nature, has affected national labor markets to a varying extent. While some countries have experienced a steep increase in unemployment, employment in other developed economies has not fallen in parallel with a significant decline in GDP. Our analysis shows that labor market institutions frequently used to study employment performance can explain the development of unemployment in the situation of crisis in some clusters of countries much better than in others. One major factor to be incorporated in capturing national variations is the role of internal flexibility, in particular working time adjustment. This calls for a broader concept of labor market flexibility which takes into account different channels of adjustment.

Read this IZA report here.

Biocapacité et empreinte écologique des modes de vie : des indicateurs pour la politique de développement durable ?

Ce Working Paper concerne l’empreinte écologique (EE) et la biocapacité (BC), deux indicateurs synthétiques qui portent sur la pression exercée par l’activité humaine sur les ressources naturelles ainsi que sur l’état du capital environnemental. C’est dans le cadre d’un partenariat établi avec le Global Footprint Network (GFN) par Els Van Weert, Secrétaire d’Etat au développement durable (2004‐2007) que le Bureau fédéral du Plan a réalisé cette étude. Ce partenariat participe à une phase de test de la méthode de calcul de l’EE et de la BC et du potentiel de ces deux indicateurs pour soutenir une stratégie de développement durable.

Lisez ce rapport du Bureau fédéral du Plan ici.

Perspectives économiques 2010-2011

Les développements économiques récents confirment la reprise de l'économie mondiale et le redressement de l'économie belge. Malgré les turbulences financières des derniers mois, l'évolution attendue de la situation économique sur la période de projection reste favorable. Les risques sont néanmoins élevés. En 2010, le PIB belge devrait croître de 1,3 %. Sa croissance devrait se relever à nouveau en 2011, pour atteindre 2,0 %.

Lisez cette publication de Regards économiques (UCL) ici.

Ongelijkheid wordt erger

Veertien procent van de bevolking stelt geregeld gezondheidszorg uit omdat die te duur is.

Dat is veel. Bovendien is dat de helft meer dan tien jaar geleden. Er is dus niet alleen een probleem, het wordt ook nog erger. Lees het volledige commentaarstuk van Guy Tegenbosch in De Standaard hier.

Europe’s stress test is no short-cut to stability

Last year’s stress test in the US applied to institutions that were the main cause of the financial instabilities, and the government had budgetary room to support the sector. Europe’s situation is different. The concern about banks is a derived concern, reflecting worries about sovereign debt in some countries and the overall economic situation; and there are greater limits today on budgetary resources. Read the opinion article in The Financial Times here.

Economics behaving badly

"It’s becoming clear that behavioral economics is being asked to solve problems it wasn’t meant to address. Indeed, it seems in some cases that behavioral economics is being used as a political expedient, allowing policymakers to avoid painful but more effective solutions rooted in traditional economics." Read the complete opinion article byLoewenstein and Ubel in The NYTimes here.

Reforming the NHS: Once more into the ring

A proposed overhaul aims to improve patient choice, promote competition and empower medical professionals. Agai. Read the complete article in The Economist here.

Calling time on progress

"Could it be that behind Europe’s petty, possessive talk about rights and entitlements there is something more fundamental going on? The reason that Europeans struggle to accept the need to work more, and get less from the state is that it seems to signal an abrupt reversal of the decades-long advance towards an ever-more civilised society: in short, the end of progress." Read the complete column in The Economist here.

Integration Through Penury? Denmark Debates a Lower Minimum Wage for Immigrants

A Danish politician has suggested paying immigrants half the current minimum wage. The idea has gone down well with center-right parties, but it's opposed by the left -- and the far right. Right-wing populists fear low wages for immigrants could take jobs away from "regular Danes." Read the complete article in Der Spiegel International here.

The Uses and Abuses of Economic Ideology

John Maynard Keynes famously wrote that “the ideas of economists and political philosophers, both when they are right and when they are wrong, are more powerful than commonly understood. Practical men, who believe themselves to be quite exempt from any intellectual influences, are usually the slaves of some defunct economist.” But I suspect that a greater danger lies elsewhere, with the practical men and women employed in the policymaking functions of central banks, regulatory agencies, governments, and financial institutions’ risk-management departments tending to gravitate to simplified versions of the dominant beliefs of economists who are, in fact, very much alive. Read Adair Turner's article on Project Syndicate here.

Auctioning Nuclear Plant Lifetimes Would Be 'Transparent but Risky'

The German government is considering conducting an auction in which energy companies would bid for the right to extend the lifetimes of their nuclear power stations beyond their scheduled shutdown dates. Opposition parties are outraged over the idea. Commentators say there are advantages, but also risks. Read the complete article in Der Spiegel International here.

Number of the Week: Euro Zone Debt Is Coming Due

$1.65 trillion: Euro zone bank debt coming due in 2010 and 2011. Read the complete article in the Wall Street Journal here.

Europe's Flawed Carbon-Trading System

The European Union likes to present its greenhouse-gas Emission Trading System as a pioneering success story. But our research at Delft University tells a different story—that the system is simply not producing the timely, significant reduction of CO2 emissions originally envisaged. A tax on CO2 emissions would be a far more beneficial alternative, not only for companies, but for consumers and for our climate as well. Read the complete opinion article in the Wall Street Journal here.

Europe Struggles to Match Success of U.S. Bank Tests

"Test results are due out on July 23. It is impossible to tell from outline plans unveiled last week if the tests will be truly severe, will publish more than a simple “passed/failed" label for every bank, and, crucially, what will be done with the failed ones." Read the complete analysis in the NYTimes here.

La lutte contre la fraude fiscale a rapporté 4,226 milliards

Lisez l'article complet dans Le Soir ici.

Grijsgedraaid

De waarschuwingen over de oplopende kosten van de vergrijzing zijn nu genoeg herhaald. Tijd om er ook echt iets aan te doen. Lees het volledige commentaarstuk van Patrick Martens in Knack hier.

How Dangerous Is U.S. Government Debt?

The dollar’s status as the world’s reserve currency has become a facet of U.S. power, allowing the United States to borrow effortlessly and sustain an assertive foreign policy. But the capital inflows associated with the dollar’s reserve-currency status have created a vulnerability, too, opening the door to a foreign sell-off of U.S. securities that could drive up U.S. interest rates. In this Center for Geoeconomic Studies Capital Flows Quarterly, Francis E. Warnock argues that a sell-off came close to happening in 2009. How the United States uses this reprieve will affect the nation’s ability to borrow for years to come, with broad implications for the sustainability of an active U.S. foreign policy. Read the complete paper here.

Sen on Smith

Harvard Professor and Nobel Laureate Amartya Sen speaks on "The Uses and Abuses of Adam Smith" at Duke University as part of a celebration weekend of the 40th anniversary of the History of Political Economy Journal. Watch the complete lecture at Duke University on Youtube here.

Opel als kantelmoment

Jan Denys is het niet eens met het plan van de federale minister van Werk om de brugpensioenregeling nog te versoepelen: 'Milquet doet net het omgekeerde van wat ze zou moeten doen.' Jan Denys is arbeidsmarktdeskundige bij Randstad. Lees zijn volledige opiniestuk in De Morgen hier.