Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: https://hdl.handle.net/10419/106437 
Year of Publication: 
2015
Series/Report no.: 
Working Paper No. 46/2015
Publisher: 
Hochschule für Wirtschaft und Recht Berlin, Institute for International Political Economy (IPE), Berlin
Abstract: 
To handle the sovereign debt crisis in general and macroeconomic imbalances in particular the leading EU institutions (the Troika) adopted two broad approaches: The short-term approach is based on enhancing the Stability and Growth Pact and to imposing fiscal austerity on crisis countries. The medium- to long-term strategy consists of internal devaluation via reducing wage costs. Both approaches were combined with structural adjustment programs in the spirit of the Washington Consensus. The Troika's policy implies an asymmetric adjustment process burdening only crisis countries. This led to the shrinking of demand and output in crisis countries comparable to the Great Depression and brought the European Monetary Union to the edge of deflation. Such polices increase the risk of Japan-style deflation with more than one lost decade.
Subjects: 
current account imbalances
Euro area economic policies
internal devaluation
austerity
JEL: 
E60
E62
F41
Document Type: 
Working Paper

Files in This Item:
File
Size
544.21 kB





Items in EconStor are protected by copyright, with all rights reserved, unless otherwise indicated.