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Policymakers in advanced economies tend to postpone reforms and budgetary adjustment, which are politically costly, until the deterioration of financial market sentiment makes these measures unavoidable. Such a strategy is economically costly and politically dangerous. It is costly because once market sentiment deteriorates confidence can be restored only through drastic and much more painful measures. Austerity can be avoided only with a credible reform agenda. The strategy is also dangerous because the argument that 'there is no other alternative' cannot be repeated indefinitely by governments that fail to act earlier. The risk that citizens may be attracted to populist solutions increases. Adapted from the source document.

In the article I discuss some possible explanations for two features of financial globalization over recent years; first, the fact that expected returns have fallen significantly in advanced countries, even though economic growth has accelerated, and second, the fact that capital is flowing from poor to rich countries rather than the other way round, a phenomenon known in the literature as the "Lucas Paradox". The "incomplete" nature of globalization, notably the persistent differences in institutional quality between North and South, might explain both puzzles as well as the emergence of global imbalances. Alternative explanations based on a fall in risk premia and accommodative monetary policy conditions fit the facts less well. I then discuss the implications for monetary policy. [Copyright 2007 The Society for Policy Modeling; published by Elsevier Inc.]

Discusses European Union enlargement, focusing on membership issues, political structure, economic stability, financial market, budget policies, security, and decision-making process.

On 5-6 September 2012 SUERF held its 30th Colloquium "States, Banks, and the Financing of the Economy" at the University of Zürich, Switzerland. The papers included in this SUERF Study are based on contributions to the Colloquium. All the papers in this publication discuss from different angles the complex interrelations between states and financial systems, which have developed in recent years with economic, financial and sovereign debt crises. The contributions look primarily on the monetary policy and financial regulation and supervision perspectives. In the preceding SUERF Study (2013/2), the focus of the contributions also delivered at the 30th SUERF Colloquium is on fiscal policy and sovereign debt perspectives.