INTERECONOMICS – REVIEW OF EUROPEAN ECONOMIC POLICY
Newsletter – Volume 51,
November/December 2016

In This Issue

The latest Intereconomics is a Special Issue that focuses on the search for new forms and sources of economic growth in the European Union. The collection of articles is based on the presentations at our recent anniversary conference in Berlin, New Growth for Europe – On Investment, Crisis Management and Growth Potential, which celebrated 50 years of Intereconomics.

The contributors to this issue include some of the most distinguished European economists researching economic growth: László Andor, Erik Berglof, Mark Blyth, Nauro Campos, Daniel Gros, Anton Hemerijck, Kieran McQuinn, Mario Pianta, Philippe Pochet, Debora Revoltella and Karl Whelan.

Please follow us on Twitter at @intereconomics_ for updates, events and interesting economic findings.

Special Issue

New Growth for Europe - On Investment, Crisis Management and Growth Potential

Growth can be achieved in many different ways, and the diversity in content and approaches within the articles in this Special Issue are testament to that. What they emphasise above all else, however, is that while growth is necessary, the traditional definitions of economic growth are not suitable for the EU in its current state and going forward. What are needed are sustainable, social and inclusive paths toward new forms of growth in Europe.

Highlights from the Current Issue

After the Brits Have Gone and the Trumpets Have Sounded

Brexit presents new options and chances to re-think the concept of Europe as well as its approach to growth. Mark Blyth argues that the political disaster of Brexit is closely related to the inability of the EU to develop an agenda for future growth that has something to offer to the working classes, who currently find their cause more resolutely defended by the populist right. The political problem supposedly revealed by Brexit is actually an economic one. The EU needs new rules that allow national governments to do for recovery what they deem necessary, even if this contravenes the rules set by an austerity-preaching Commission.

Structural Reforms as a Panacea? The European Productivity and Growth Puzzle

Daniel Gros calls for a more active policy towards improving productivity, as neither cheap money nor structural reforms have shown the desired effects thus far. Not surprisingly, Gros points at a lack of investment as one of the main causes for low growth. Citing a list of growth initiatives launched in the last two decades, he argues that although impressive progress has been made with regard to structural reform, very little of this has turned up in the growth and productivity figures. Gros concludes that more investigation into the causes of the current stagnation is needed before policymakers call for more structural reforms.

Quote of the Month

For the first time, there is a modest investment plan driven by public policy that expands demand and tries to fill – to a very limited extent – the gap left by the collapse of private investment since the 2008 crisis. For the first time, there is an EU policy action that recognises that markets cannot be considered perfectly capable of identifying appropriate investment opportunities.

About Intereconomics – Review of European Economic Policy

Intereconomics is jointly produced by ZBW – Leibniz Information Centre for Economics and the Centre for European Policy Studies (CEPS). The journal appears bimonthly and features papers by economists that deal with economic and social policy issues and trends in Europe or affecting Europe. To submit a paper for publication, please visit the Submissions section of our website for relevant information.

Intereconomics is published by Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg.

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