Search

This paper analyzes the effectiveness of the tax and transfer systems in the European Union and the US to act as an automatic stabilizer in the current economic crisis. We consider two scenarios: a proportional income shock and a shock on employment which increases the rate of unemployment. We find that automatic stabilizers absorb 38 percent of a proportional income shock in the EU, compared to 32 percent in the US. In the case of an unemployment shock 48 percent of the shock is absorbed in the EU, compared to 34 percent in the US. Under the assumption that only credit constrained households adjust current spending on consumption goods to current disposable income, the cushioning of disposable income leads to a demand stabilization of 26 to 35 percent in the EU and 19 percent in the US. There is large heterogeneity within the EU. Automatic stabilizers in Eastern and Southern Europe are much lower than in Central and Northern European countries. With respect to income stabilization, Germany is above the European average for both scenarios. Demand stabilization in Germany is weaker because the number of liquidity constrained households is below the EU average. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Perspektiven der Wirtschaftspolitik is the property of De Gruyter and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

This article analyses the impact of the exchange rate on the role of dollar and euro as international currencies. It is found that exchange rate fluctuations are a major determinant of the international role of currencies only if they reflect sizeable inflation differentials. Accordingly, major changes in the international role of dollar and euro are not to be expected given the continuation of a stability-oriented US monetary policy. However, a move towards more exchange rate flexibility in emerging market economies, reflecting the need for greater monetary policy autonomy, might lead to a relative strengthening of the international role of the euro. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Most observers ascribe the recent stagnation in Europe and her falling back behind the US-economy to insufficient and delayed deregulation and privatization, excessive social expenditure, a lag in new technology; some observers mention restrictive economic policy as well. The stagnation, however, affects the large countries primarily, while the northern ones tend to grow as fast as the United States. This study argues that one important explanation for the current economic problems is a strong worldwide trend towards uncertainty. The competitive edge of Scandinavian economies results from the fact that they managed to compensate this trend by a well-designed combination of education policy, technology policy, distribution policy and social policy. The US-policy succeeded primarily with expansive monetary and fiscal policy. The large European countries, in contrast, aggravated social uncertainty even more by an unsystematic and uncoordinated policy, so that the citizens, heavily afraid of reforms, rejected them forcefully. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article illustrates how the integration of modern theory of finance and stochastic dynamic macroeconomic analysis provides a deeper understanding of the link between asset prices and consumption. It shows that this approach gives only a partial explanation for recent trends in US consumption. Comparing wealth effects in Anglo- Saxon countries with continental Europe, the article provides a perspective of the challenges for European monetary policy arising from wealth effects on consumption. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]