Economic and Fiscal Policy

Economic & Fiscal Policy

Foremost on industry bosses’ mind and the general public attention alike, economic policy is one of the key areas of EconPol analysis. Fiscal policy, in turn, as a major enabler of economic policy, is another pillar of exploration. Devising the right policies to boost economic growth, assure price stability, and safeguard sustainable public finances is an art in itself, and different for every country and economy. This EconPol section examines policies that impact taxation, government spending, budgetary allocations, and public debt management. Additionally, it investigates the challenges and trade-offs faced by policymakers in balancing competing goals and responding to economic shocks and crises.

Related articles

Forum Icon BIG-DATA-BASED ECONOMIC INSIGHTS

Measuring Remote Work Using a Large Language Model (LLM)

BIG-DATA-BASED ECONOMIC INSIGHTS

Peter John Lambert

The Covid-19 pandemic propelled an enormous uptake in hybrid and fully remote work. Over time, it has become clear that this shift will endure long after the initial forcing event. There are few modern precedents for such an abrupt, large-scale shift in working arrangements. This article analyzes the full text of hundreds of millions of job postings in five English-speaking countries. In doing so, it applies a state-of-the-art Large Language Model (LLM) to analyze the text and determine whether the job allows remote/hybrid work.

... Details
Cover of EconPol Forum 3/2023

How Sanctions Work - And Which Goals They Fail to Achieve

POLICY DEBATE OF THE HOUR

Jerg Gutmann, Matthias Neuenkirch and Florian Neumeier, Constantinos Syropoulos and Yoto V. Yotov, Eckhard Janeba, Stefan Goldbach and Volker Nitsch, Kai A. Konrad and Marcel Thum, Dario Laudati, Mohammad Reza Farzanegan

In the light of geopolitical conflicts and instability, sanctions play an important role in the international economic policy debate - especially against countries such as Russia, Iran and China. Economic sanctions are often intended to achieve foreign and security policy goals: fighting terrorism, protecting democracy and human rights, or resolving conflicts. In this issue of EconPol Forum, our authors examine, using the evidence-based studies, the extent to which various sanctions have achieved their goals. How do they affect economic growth, trade, and prosperity? In addition, we want to understand their impact on sectoral development of agriculture, energy and mining, as well as on human rights, military spending or life expectancy. In this context, international trade, financial transactions, technology transfer and other economic activities, among others, are systematically studied. And researchers look at different types of sanctions, such as unilateral, multilateral, and extraterritorial.

... Details
Cover of EconPol Policy Report 40

Minimum Income Support Systems as Elements of Crisis Resilience in Europe

Werner Eichhorst, Holger Bonin, Annabelle Krause-Pilatus, Paul Marx, Mathias Dolls, Max Lay

The new Policy Report analyses the role of social policies in different European welfare states regarding minimum income protection and active inclusion. It finds consistent differences in terms of crisis resilience across countries and welfare state types. In general, Nordic and Continental European welfare states with strong upstream systems and minimum income support (MIS) show better outcomes in core socio-economic outcomes such as poverty and exclusion risks. However, labour market integration shows some dualisms in Continental Europe. The study shows that MIS holds particular importance if there are gaps in upstream systems or cases of severe and lasting crises.

... Details
Banks Skyscrapers

The Current Banking Quake: Where Does It Come from and What Should Policy Makers Do?

|
Expert Opinion
The crises at Silicon Valley Bank and Credit Suisse have shaken the world of finance. While policymakers and central banks are being placatory, the markets are not calming down. Banks that very recently seemed healthy are running into liquidity problems. Interest rate hikes by central banks are a major driver of the crisis. They cause the market value of bonds and other long-term assets such as real estate and stocks, previously inflated by expansionary monetary policy, to fall. At the same time, short-term interest rates are rising faster than long-term rates. As a result, banks must either grant account holders higher deposit rates or expect at least the more astute investors to withdraw their funds and invest them elsewhere on better terms.
... Details
Forum Icon ECONOMIC POLICY AND ITS IMPACT

The Closure of Police Stations Leads to an Increase in Theft Crime

ECONOMIC POLICY AND ITS IMPACT

Sebastian Blesse and André Diegmann

The recent literature on law enforcement activities and police presence shows that the intensity of crime can be influenced by police availability and visibility. This study is one of the first to analyze the effects of police infrastructure on crime occurrence. Attempts to cut back on police infrastructures in the area in favor of supposed efficiency gains can therefore be accompanied by considerable side effects – in the form of an increase in reported property crimes. Thus, the present results can inform policymakers and practitioners about possible unintended side effects of efficiency-oriented restructuring of administrative infrastructures. These should be considered for future plans of an efficient and future-proof reorganization of police structures.

... Details