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Austerity, cyclical adjustment and the remaining leeway for expansionary fiscal policies within the current EU fiscal framework

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  • Truger, Achim
Abstract
Fiscal policy in the Euro area is still dominated by austerity measures implemented under the institutional setting of the 'reformed' stability and growth pact, and the even stricter 'fiscal compact'. At the same time, calls for a more expansionary fiscal policy to overcome the economic crisis have recently become more frequent. In his Jackson Hole speech Mario Draghi, the president of the ECB, called for a more expansionary fiscal stance for the Euro area as a whole and a public investment programme on the European level insisting, however, that the existing rules of the Stability and Growth Pact be respected. The European Council at its meeting in June 2014 also saw the need to stimulate growth, but insisted as well that this be realised within the current institutional framework. Recently, the EU-Commission in this spirit has launched the Juncker-Plan to stimulate (public) investment and is using a less strict interpretation of the Stability and Growth Pact in order to provide more fiscal leeway for countries under unfavourable economic circumstances. The paper argues that these steps do not go far enough and that a truly expansionary fiscal policy in the dimension of two to three per cent of Euro area GDP for a few years is possible even within the existing institutional framework. Special emphasis is put on the method of cyclical adjustment employed by the European Commission in order to assess member states' fiscal position and effort as well as on ways to increase public investment. It will be shown that even in the existing framework the leeway for a macro economically and socially more sensible fiscal policy using the interpretational leeway inherent in the rules could be quite substantial.

Suggested Citation

  • Truger, Achim, 2015. "Austerity, cyclical adjustment and the remaining leeway for expansionary fiscal policies within the current EU fiscal framework," IPE Working Papers 50/2015, Berlin School of Economics and Law, Institute for International Political Economy (IPE).
    • Handle: RePEc:zbw:ipewps:502015
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    Cited by:

    1. Achim Truger, 2020. "Reforming EU Fiscal Rules: More Leeway, Investment Orientation and Democratic Coordination," Intereconomics: Review of European Economic Policy, Springer;ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics;Centre for European Policy Studies (CEPS), vol. 55(5), pages 277-281, September.
    2. Achim TRUGER & Michael NAGEL, 2016. "Austerity, Cyclical Adjustment and How to use the Remaining Leeway for Expansionary Fiscal Policies Within the Current EU Fiscal Framework," Turkish Economic Review, KSP Journals, vol. 3(2), pages 235-255, June.
    3. VODĂ Alina Daniela & DOBROTĂ Gabriela & CRISTEA Loredana Andreea, 2020. "Heterogeneity Of Fiscal Policies," Annals of Faculty of Economics, University of Oradea, Faculty of Economics, vol. 1(2), pages 257-264, December.
    4. Jesús Ferreiro & Catalina Gálvez & Carmen Gómez Author-Email: carmen.gomez@ehu.eus & Ana González, 2016. "Bank Rescues and Fiscal Policy in the European Union during the Great Recession," Panoeconomicus, Savez ekonomista Vojvodine, Novi Sad, Serbia, vol. 63(2), pages 211-230, April.
    5. Philipp Heimberger, 2020. "Potential Output, EU Fiscal Surveillance and the COVID-19 Shock," Intereconomics: Review of European Economic Policy, Springer;ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics;Centre for European Policy Studies (CEPS), vol. 55(3), pages 167-174, May.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    fiscal policy; austerity; cyclical adjustment of public finances; Euro area;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • E61 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Macroeconomic Policy, Macroeconomic Aspects of Public Finance, and General Outlook - - - Policy Objectives; Policy Designs and Consistency; Policy Coordination
    • E62 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Macroeconomic Policy, Macroeconomic Aspects of Public Finance, and General Outlook - - - Fiscal Policy; Modern Monetary Theory
    • E65 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Macroeconomic Policy, Macroeconomic Aspects of Public Finance, and General Outlook - - - Studies of Particular Policy Episodes
    • H62 - Public Economics - - National Budget, Deficit, and Debt - - - Deficit; Surplus
    • H63 - Public Economics - - National Budget, Deficit, and Debt - - - Debt; Debt Management; Sovereign Debt

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