Sustainable Growth in the EU, 1st ed. 2017 Challenges and Solutions

This book explores the diverse challenges facing the EU and in particular examines the impediments to financial stability and sustainable growth and how these can be overcome. Among the topics explored are the extent to which monetary union has favored real convergence, competitive imbalances in the eurozone, and the impacts of austerity measures. Potential solutions are closely scrutinized, highlighting the need for linked fiscal, monetary, credit, and investment choices. Opportunities for public and private investment in infrastructure, human capital, the environment, and innovation are emphasized, as is the role of fiscal stimulus targeting aggregate demand and output. Detailed attention is paid to the importance of coordination of macroeconomic policies and the scope for reforms in EMU design and EU governance. In this context, the proposals in the recent Five Presidents? Report are assessed, along with other ideas regarding progressive steps aimed at closer economic, financial, and political union in the medium to long term. Readers will also find separate scrutiny of the Greek crisis and the effectiveness of the third economic adjustment programme. The book comprises a selection of contributions presented at the XXVIII Villa Mondragone International Economic Seminar.

Capital Intensity and Growth in the European Union.- Youth Employment and Social Capital in Europe.- Incomes, Hours of Work, and Equality in Europe and the United States.- How to complete a Union that is built to last.- The European Policy Framework: A Lack of Coordination between Monetary Policy and Fiscal Policy.- Sovereign Debt Restructuring Mechanisms: Mind the trap.- The post-2007 Developments in the Italian Economy: a Counterfactual Analysis with the ITEM Model.- Governance of the Single Market. How to win allies for a new opening?.- Competitive Imbalances As The Fundamental Cause Of The Euro Area Crisis.- Eurozone: Crises, Wrong Policies and the Needed Reforms.- Fiscal Multipliers and the Risk of Self-Defeating Fiscal Consolidation: Evidence for the Italian Economy.- The third stability support programme: is Greece overcoming its crisis?.- Moving on Towards a Workable Climate Regime.- Innovation, Inequality and Growth.- Inside the EU Economic Space: Ex-post Convergence vs EMU-OCA Challenges .- Inequality and The Duration of Growth.

Luigi Paganetto is Emeritus Professor and Full Professor of European Economics at the University of Rome Tor Vergata, and President of the Economics Foundation Tor Vergata for Economic Research. He participates as an expert in European and International working groups. He is the author of articles and books in the fields of Macroeconomics, International Economics, Italian and European Industrial Economics, and Energy and Environment.