Documents Schneider, Jan-David 4 results

"The EU, and the Eurozone in particular, has been going through a period of prolonged economic difficulty. While there are some signs of recovery, growth rates remain too low, only returning to the already modest growth rates of the pre-crisis period. This not only affects the creation of jobs, but also, through lower tax revenues and stagnant GDP levels, the consolidation of public finances. There are clear signs that Europe is not investing enough in its future productive capacity, which will have a significant impact on long-term growth rates in Europe. In this Policy Brief, Fabian Zuleeg and Jan David Schneider argue that the importance of social and other productive public investments should be reflected in Europe's economic governance framework. This could be accomplished by introducing more flexibility into the system, in the form of a ‘Golden Rule' – allowing member states to borrow more for investment purposes – alongside a European measurement framework to determine what constitutes investment. In addition, a fiscal capacity is needed, tied to economic reforms through contractual arrangements. According to Zuleeg and Schneider, creating a new space for social investment in the economic governance of the Eurozone might well be a crucial turning point in the political crisis that has followed the economic one."

"In November 2014, European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker submitted a long-awaited proposal for a European Investment Plan that aims to stimulate private investment, which will - hopefully - break the vicious cycle of continued low growth and high unemployment in Europe. But there are doubts whether the Plan can live it up to its potential. In this Discussion Paper, Jan David Schneider presents a number of proposals that could improve the impact of the Plan, and discusses the hurdles that will have to be overcome before it can deliver growth and jobs in Europe."

"Uncertainty faced by households and firms affects economic activity. The rise in uncertainty since the beginning of the sovereign debt crisis in Greece could be one factor that has contributed to the steep and long-lasting recession. This paper presents a brief empirical analysis quantifying this phenomenon and compares it with developments in Ireland and Portugal. Overall, this analysis shows that the uncertainty impact on growth has been relatively small in Greece between 2008 and 2013, although stronger than in Ireland or Portugal. This quantification appears to be robust to various specification changes of the vector auto regressive models developed for this exercise. This working paper relates to the 2013 Economic Survey of Greece."

"Poverty and income inequality have worsened since the onset of the crisis. While the design of fiscal measures has mitigated the burden sharing of fiscal adjustment, as the recession has deepened unemployment has risen, earnings have declined and social tensions have increased. Getting people back to work and supporting the most vulnerable remain priorities for inclusive growth and distributing the costs of adjustment equitably. Within the limited fiscal space this calls for continued reforms in targeting social support, especially housing benefits, extending unemployment insurance and introducing a means-tested minimum income. Sustaining universal access to good health care is also essential. Well-designed activation policies are important to bring the unemployed, especially the young, to work. At the same time, it is important to strengthen the effectiveness of the labour inspection to ensure full enforcement of the labour code. Decisive steps to contain tax evasion are also critical to social fairness. Reforms by the government in many of these areas are welcome and need to continue."