Swedish household debt is not too high: Look at solvency and liquidity, not debt to income
The Swedish authorities and international organisations often claim that household debt poses a threat to financial and macroeconomic stability, with reference to a high debt-to-income
Strategic autonomy for Europe requires economic growth
The current US administration’s willingness to weaponise trade makes clear that transatlantic economic relations have become entirely transactional. This column, taken from a CEPR book
Is Europe ready for a major banking crisis?
Europe’s banks have long been slow to integrate across borders, but this is changing fast. ‘Pan-European banks’, with activities spanning several EU countries, are emerging
Dangling fiscal surveillance: EU fiscal policies in 2024
Effectively suspended since the onset of the Covid pandemic, the EU fiscal rules were set to make a comeback in 2024. At the same time,
How to update the EU Merger Guidelines
There is a growing push from certain quarters for the European Commission to weaken merger control in order to spur greater investment and innovation, higher
Italy and the cost of unintelligible laws: 110 billion euros a year
Over the past 30 years, laws in Italy have become longer, more convoluted, and frequently unintelligible even to seasoned legal professionals. This column exploits variation
In the new geopolitical context, Europe’s banking discussions need to go beyond competitiveness
Europe has recently pivoted to regulatory simplification with the aim to boost competitiveness. This column argues that in banking the debate needs to go beyond
The time is right to make a European Union-India trade deal happen
Nearly 20 years have passed since the EU and India started negotiations on a bilateral trade and investment agreement. After seven years of intense negotiations,
EU countries demand stricter controls on new CO2 price
Germany, the Czech Republic and 14 other countries have demanded the European Union introduce stricter price controls to the bloc’s new carbon market, over fears
State aid in times of crisis: Lessons from COVID-19 support for firms in Italy and Spain
The unprecedented wave of state aid to firms across the EU during the COVID-19 pandemic raised questions about who benefited and how effective these interventions
