Agora
Posts in Economy
Where are the Conservatives?
Kyriakos Mitsotakis won an impressive election victory in June 2023 to lead Greece for a second term as Prime Minister. He heads the New Democracy party (ND). Mitsotakis and ND profile themselves as “conservatives.” The main opposition parties, SYRIZA and PASOK, may be seen as “further left” (progressive) and “center left” (labor party), respectively.
Contributor: Bob Traa
Categories: Politics (410), Economy (345), Greece (523)
On monetary policy and inflation targeting
The setting. Consider two countries, A and B, that both aim to follow an inflation target, let us say 2 percent year-on-year (Y/Y) for the headline index of consumer prices (HICP).[2]
Contributor: Bob Traa
Categories: Economy (345)
Macroeconomic fundamentals for Greece
Countries can get caught up in the hamster wheel of daily noise. The cyclical ups and downs can become such a fixation that little else makes it onto the radar screen. Citizens then get a sense that the country goes around and round, without anything really changing over time (“…if only we had investment grade…”). Getting stuck in cyclical thinking is a trap.
Contributor: Bob Traa & Jens Bastian
Categories: Politics (410), Economy (345), Greece (523)
Does the EU Commission suffer from optimism bias? (Part 2)
In the previous blog we expressed concern that the European Commission may suffer from an optimism bias. We noted that the long-run outlook for real GDP growth in the EU27 as a whole appeared to be based on too-favorable labor productivity growth assumptions.
Contributor: Bob Traa & Jens Bastian
Categories: Europe (293), Economy (345)
Does the EU Commission suffer from optimism bias? (Part 1)
This blog post is based on Chapter 8 of a new book: “The Macroeconomy of the European Union,” by Bob Traa, available on Amazon.com. The book examines structural considerations for potential growth, fiscal and debt developments, and the fiscal rules in the EU27 and in each individual member state, including Greece.
Contributor: Bob Traa & Jens Bastian
Categories: Europe (293), Economy (345)