Publications

1657 publications found

• Working Paper No.771 01 August 2013

  Foreign and Public Deficits in Greece

  Michalis Nikiforos, Laura Carvalho and Christian Schoder
  Abstract

  This paper analyzes the trajectories of the Greek public deficit and sovereign debt over the last three decades and their connection to the political and economic environment, paying special attention to the causality between the public and the foreign deficit. The authors argue that, from 1980 to 1995, causality ran from the public deficit to the foreign deficit but has since reversed, a result of the European monetary unification process and the adoption of the common currency. This hypothesis is tested and verified econometrically using the Granger causality and cointegration analyses. 

  Download Working Paper No. 771 PDF (858.89 KB)
• Working Paper No.771 01 August 2013

  Εξωτερικά και κρατικά ελλείμματα στην Ελλάδα

  Michalis Nikiforos, Laura Carvalho and Christian Schoder
  Abstract

  Η εργασία εξετάζει την πορεία των κρατικών ελλειμμάτων και του δημόσιου χρέους στην Ελλάδα κατά τη διάρκεια των τελευταίων τριών δεκαετιών και τη σύνδεσή τους με το πολιτικό και οικονομικό περιβάλλον της ίδιας περιόδου. Οι συγγραφείς υποστηρίζουν ότι, από το 1980 έως το 1995, τα κρατικά ελλείμματα οδηγούν σε διόγκωση του εξωτερικού ελλείμματος, αλλά η αιτιότητα μεταξύ των δύο αλλάζει κατεύθυνση στη συνέχεια λόγω της διαδικασίας της ευρωπαϊκής νομισματικής ενοποίησης και της υιοθέτησης του κοινού νομίσματος. Η υπόθεση αυτή ελέγχεται και επαληθεύεται οικονομετρικά με τη χρήση της ανάλυσης της συνολοκλήρωσης και της μεθοδολογίας του Granger.

  Download Επιστημονική Εργασία υπό Εξέλιξη (Working Paper) No. 771 PDF (1.86 MB)
• Working Paper No.770 31 July 2013

  Uncertainty and Contradiction

  Michalis Nikiforos
  Abstract

  This paper presents a discussion of the forces at play behind the economic fluctuations in the medium run and their relation with the short-run macroeconomic equilibrium. The business cycle is the result of two separate phenomena. On the one hand, there is the instability caused by the discrepancy between expected and realized outcomes. On the other hand, this instability is contained by the inherent contradictions of capitalism; the upswing carries within it “the seeds of its own destruction.” The same happens with the downswing. The paper provides a formal exposition of these insights, a discussion of how the formulation of this mechanism resembles the simple harmonic motion of classical mechanics, and an empirical evaluation. 

  Download Working Paper No. 770 PDF (986.03 KB)
• One Pager No.39 24 July 2013

  The Impact of a Path to Citizenship on the US Economy and Social Insurance System

  Selçuk Eren
  Abstract

  Comprehensive immigration reform has long eluded Congress. Although the Senate recently passed a bill—S. 744, or the Border Security, Economic Opportunity, and Immigration Modernization Act—that would take significant steps toward comprehensive reform, it is currently being held up in the Republican-controlled House. The sticking point? The “path to citizenship” provision for undocumented immigrants included in the Senate bill. Yet legalizing a significant proportion of the undocumented immigrant population would not impose serious costs on either the economy in general or the social insurance system in particular. On the contrary: maintaining the status quo would be economically wasteful.

  Download One-Pager No. 39 PDF (77.05 KB)
• Policy Notes No.6 23 July 2013

  A Failure by Any Other Name

  C. J. Polychroniou
  Abstract
  Research Associate and Policy Fellow C. J. Polychroniou argues that a political solution based on a new economic vision is needed to bring an end to the Greek crisis.  Polychroniou observes that what began as a financial crisis has been transformed into a full-fledged economic and social crisis by the neoliberal policies of the International Monetary Fund and the European Union (EU). Instead of growth, these policies have destroyed Greece’s economy, divided the eurozone states, and hobbled a fragile global recovery. The past six years have seen Greece’s descent into economic and social ruin. Exiting the current crisis, for Greece and countries throughout the eurozone, requires more than an end to austerity.  Broadly, EU institutions must be radically restructured around the principles of sustainable, equitable growth. Specifically, Greece needs a comprehensive development plan, with massive public spending and investment. 

  Download Policy Note 2013/6 PDF (249.74 KB)
• Working Paper No.769 19 July 2013

  Quality of Statistical Match and Simulations Used in the Estimation of the Levy Institute Measure of Time and Consumption Poverty (LIMTCP) for Turkey in 2006

  Thomas Masterson
  Abstract

  The quality of match of the statistical match used in the Levy Institute Measure of Time and Consumption Poverty (LIMTCP) estimates for Turkey in 2006 is described. The match combines the 2006 Zaman Kullanim Anketi (ZKA 2006) with the 2006 Hanehalki Bütçe Anketi (HBA 2006). These are the national time-use survey and household income and expenditure surveys, respectively. The alignment of the two datasets is examined, after which various aspects of the match quality are detailed. The match is of high quality, given the nature of the source datasets.

  The quality of the simulation of employment gains for Turkey in 2006 is then described. All eligible adults not working for pay, as employers, or as unpaid household workers were assigned jobs. In all households that included job recipients, the time spent on household production was imputed for everyone included in the time-use survey. Household consumption was then assigned to each household in the simulation containing a job recipient. The recipient group was compared to the donor group, both in terms of demographic similarity and in terms of the imputed usual hours, earnings, and household production generated in the simulation. In both cases, the simulations were of reasonable quality, given the nature of the challenges in assessing their quality.

  Download Working Paper No. 769 PDF (1.01 MB)
• Research Project Report 03 July 2013

  A Levy Institute Model for Greece

  Dimitri B. Papadimitriou, Gennaro Zezza and Michalis Nikiforos
  Abstract

  In this report Levy Institute President Dimitri B. Papadimitriou and Research Scholars Gennaro Zezza and Michalis Nikiforos present the technical structure of the Levy Institute’s macroeconomic model for the Greek economy (LIMG). LIMG is a stock-flow consistent model that reflects the “New Cambridge” approach that builds on the work of Distinguished Scholar Wynne Godley and the current Levy Institute model for the US economy. LIMG is a flexible tool for the analysis of economic policy alternatives for the medium term and is also the analytic framework for a forthcoming Strategic Analysis series focusing on the Greek economy.  

  Download Research Project Report, July 2013 PDF (3.10 MB)
• Strategic Analysis 02 July 2013

  Η ελληνική οικονομική κρίση και η εμπειρία με τις πολιτικές λιτότητας

  Dimitri B. Papadimitriou, Gennaro Zezza and Michalis Nikiforos
  Abstract

  Η απασχόληση στην Ελλάδα βρίσκεται σε ελεύθερη πτώση: πάνω από ένα εκατομμύριο θέσεις εργασίας έχουν χαθεί από τον Οκτώβρη του 2008, αντιπροσωπεύοντας μια μείωση της απασχόλησης άνω του 28%. Τον Μάρτη του 2013 η «επίσημη» ανεργία ήταν 27.4%, το υψηλότερο ποσοστό ανεργίας των τελευταίων τριάντα ετών σε οποιαδήποτε βιομηχανοποιημένη χώρα του δυτικού κόσμου.

  Σε αυτή την έκθεση, ο πρόεδρος του Levy Institute Δημήτρης Β. Παπαδημητρίου και οι ερευνητές Μιχάλης Νικηφόρου και Gennaro Zezza αναλύουν την οικονομική κρίση στην Ελλάδα και προτείνουν πολιτικές για την αποκατάσταση της ανάπτυξης και την αύξηση της απασχόλησης. Η ανάλυση στηρίζεται στο μακροοικονομικό μοντέλο του Levy Institute για την ελληνική οικονομία, ένα μοντέλο αποθεμάτων-ροών παρόμοιο με το μακροοικονομικό μοντέλο που χρησιμοποιεί το Ινστιτούτο για τις τάσεις στην αμερικανική οικονομία. Στο πλαίσιο αυτό, οι συγγραφείς ανακαλύπτουν ότι η συνέχιση των πολιτικών λιτότητας θα μειώσουν το ΑΕΠ και θα αυξήσουν την ανεργία. Συνεπώς, θεωρούν τις πρόσφατες προβλέψεις του Διεθνούς Νομισματικού Ταμείου και της Ευρωπαϊκής Επιτροπής υπερβολικά αισιόδοξες και προτείνουν ένα σχέδιο οικονομικής ανάκαμψης τύπου Marshall που στοχεύει στη δημόσια κατανάλωση και τις επενδύσεις.

  Download Στρατηγικη Αναλυση, Ιούλιος 2013 PDF (1.06 MB)
• Strategic Analysis 02 July 2013

  The Greek Economic Crisis and the Experience of Austerity

  Dimitri B. Papadimitriou, Gennaro Zezza and Michalis Nikiforos
  Abstract

  Employment in Greece is in free fall, with more than one million jobs lost since October 2008—a drop of more than 28 percent. In March, the “official” unemployment rate was 27.4 percent, the highest level seen in any industrialized country in the free world during the last 30 years.

  In this report, Levy Institute President Dimitri B. Papadimitriou and Research Scholars Michalis Nikiforos and Gennaro Zezza present their analysis of Greece’s economic crisis and offer policy recommendations to restore growth and increase employment. This analysis relies on the Levy Institute’s macroeconomic model for the Greek economy (LIMG), a stock-flow consistent model similar to the Institute’s model of the US economy. Based on the LIMG simulations, the authors find that a continuation of “expansionary austerity” policies will actually increase unemployment, since GDP will not grow quickly enough to arrest, much less reverse, the decline in employment. They critically evaluate recent International Monetary Fund and European Commission projections for the Greek economy, and find these projections overly optimistic. They recommend a recovery plan, similar to the Marshall Plan, to increase public consumption and investment. Toward this end, the authors call for an expanded direct public-service job creation program.

  Download Strategic Analysis, July 2013 PDF (999.06 KB)
• Working Paper No.768 02 July 2013

  Evaluating the Gender Wage Gap in Georgia, 2004–2011

  Tamar Khitarishvili
  Abstract

  This paper evaluates the gender wage gap among wage workers along the wage distribution in Georgia between 2004 and 2011, based on the recentered influence function (RIF) decomposition approach developed in Firpo, Fortin, and Lemieux (2009). We find that the gender wage gap decreases along the wage distribution, from 0.64 log points to 0.54 log points. Endowment differences explain between 22 percent and 61 percent of the observed gender wage gap, with the explained proportion declining as we move to the top of the distribution. The primary contributors are the differences in the work hours, industrial composition, and employment in the state sector. A substantial portion of the gap, however, remains unexplained, and can be attributed to the differences in returns, especially in the industrial premia.

  The gender wage gap consistently declined between 2004 and 2011. However, the gap remains large, with women earning 45 percent less than men in 2011. The reduction in the gender wage gap between 2004 and 2007, and the switch from a glass-ceiling shape for the gender gap distribution to a sticky-floor shape, was driven by the rising returns in the state sector for men at the bottom, and by women at the top of the wage distribution. Between 2009 and 2011, the decline in the gender wage gap can be explained by the decrease in men’s working hours, which was larger than the decrease in women’s working hours. We assess the robustness of our findings using the statistical matching decomposition method developed in Ñopo (2008) in order to address the possibility that the high degree of industrial segregation may bias our results. The Ñopo decomposition results enrich our understanding of the factors that underlie the gender wage gap but do not alter our key findings, and in fact support their robustness.

  This paper is part of the World Bank’s gender assessment program in the South Caucasus.

  Download Working Paper No. 768 PDF (999.00 KB)
• Working Paper No.767 21 June 2013

  Η Γερμανία και η κρίση στην ευρωζώνη

  Jörg Bibow
  Abstract

  Η εργασία αυτή διερευνά την ευπάθεια της Γερμανίας στη συνεχιζόμενη κρίση της ευρωζώνης. Την περίοδο 2010–11, η Γερμανία ανέκαμψε από την παγκόσμια οικονομική κρίση του 2008-09. Η κρίση της ευρωζώνης εκείνη την περίοδο σήμαινε ιστορικά χαμηλά επιτόκια και πτώση του ευρώ, πράγμα που ενίσχυσε τον εξαγωγικό τομέα της Γερμανίας. Αλλά η κρίση που ξεκίνησε στη λεγόμενη περιφέρεια της ευρωζώνης έχει φτάσει πλέον στον πυρήνα της ευρωζώνης. Ο ευρωσκεπτικισμός εξαπλώνεται σε όλη την Ευρωπαϊκή Ένωση (ΕΕ) και το μέλλον του ευρώ παραμένει αβέβαιο ανεξάρτητα από τις υποσχέσεις που κάνει ο πρόεδρος της Ευρωπαϊκής Κεντρικής Τράπεζας (ΕΚΤ) Μάριο Ντράγκι. Η θέση της Γερμανίας ως «ασφαλές καταφύγιο» μπορεί να αποδειχθεί δίκοπο μαχαίρι. Σε περίπτωση διάλυσης του ευρώ, η ταχεία ανατίμηση του νέου γερμανικού μάρκου θα επιδεινώσει απότομα την γερμανική ανταγωνιστικότητα και η γερμανική οικονομία θα βυθιστεί σε ύφεση. Επιπλέον, θα υπάρξουν απώλειες στη διεθνή επενδυτική θέση της Γερμανίας. Μια σωστή εκτίμηση της αρνητικής επίδρασης της κρίσης του ευρώ στη γερμανική οικονομία θα συνέβαλε ώστε να κατανοήσουν οι γερμανικές αρχές ότι οι συνταγές πολιτικής που εφαρμόζουν δεν είναι καθόλου προς το συμφέρον της Γερμανίας—και αυτό θα ήταν καλό να το κατανοήσουν και οι κυβερνητικές αρχές στις υπόλοιπες χώρες της ευρωζώνης. Η Γερμανία είναι υποχρεωμένη να αντιληφθεί ότι η ίδια είναι πολύ ευάλωτη απέναντι στην καταστροφή που προκαλεί σε όλη την Ευρώπη η πολιτική που εφαρμόζει. Η ΕΕ, κατά πάσα πιθανότητα με τη Γαλλία σε ηγετικό ρόλο, θα πρέπει να πείσει τη Γερμανία να αλλάξει πορεία στην αντιμετώπιση της κρίσης στην ευρωζώνη, ειδάλλως η υπόθεση ευρώ έχει τελειώσει.

  Download Επιστημονική εργασία υπό εξέλιξη (Working Paper) No. 767 PDF (4.03 MB)
• Working Paper No.767 21 June 2013

  Germany and the Euroland Crisis

  Jörg Bibow
  Abstract

  This paper investigates Germany’s vulnerability to the ongoing Euroland crisis. In 2010–11, Germany experienced a strong rebound from the global financial crisis of 2008–09. The Euroland crisis then meant record low interest rates and a depressed euro that boosted German extra-area exports. But the crisis that started in Euroland’s so-called periphery has meanwhile reached the core. With pro-euro sentiments dwindling fast across the European Union (EU), the future of the euro remains uncertain no matter what European Central Bank President Mario Draghi may promise. Germany’s “safe haven” status may turn out to be a double-edged sword. In case of a euro breakup, swift appreciation of the new deutschmark would abruptly worsen German competitiveness and the German economy would crater as a result. Additional wealth losses on Germany’s international investment position would also loom. Appreciating Germany’s own vulnerability to the euro crisis should help the German authorities to understand that their policy prescriptions are anything but in Germany’s own best interest, which is also good for the authorities in euro partner countries to recognize. Germany is bound to catch up with the reality that it is very vulnerable to the enormous wreckage and unnecessary hardship German-style policies are causing across Europe. The EU, most likely under French leadership, will have to convince Germany to embark on a fundamental policy course change, or else call an ugly end to the euro disaster.

  Download Working Paper No. 767 PDF (2.92 MB)
• Working Paper No.766 11 June 2013

  Heterodox Shocks

  Levy Blog
  Abstract

  Should shocks be part of our macro-modeling tool kit—for example, as a way of modeling discontinuities in fiscal policy or big moves in the financial markets? What are shocks, and how can we best put them to use? In heterodox macroeconomics, shocks tend to come in two broad types, with some exceptions for hybrid cases. What I call Type 1 shocks are one-time exogenous changes in parameters or variables. They are used, for example, to set computer simulations in motion or to pose an analytical question about dynamic behavior outside of equilibrium. On the other hand, Type 2 shocks, by construction, occur at regular time intervals, and are usually drawn at random from a probability distribution of some kind. This paper is an appreciation and a survey of shocks and their admittedly scattered uses in the heterodox macro literature, along with some proposals and thoughts about using shocks to improve models. Since shocks of both types might appear at times to be ad hoc when used in macro models, this paper examines possible justifications for using them.

  Download Working Paper No. 766 PDF (328.13 KB)
• One Pager No.38 05 June 2013

  Financial Reform and the London Whale

  Jan Kregel
  Abstract

  The recent report by the Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations on the operations of JPMorgan Chase’s Synthetic Credit Portfolio unit—aka the London Whale—has brought renewed attention to the risks of proprietary trading for insured banks, and provides depth to the larger risks inherent in the financial system after Dodd-Frank.  

  Download One-Pager No. 38 PDF (66.38 KB)
• One Pager No.38 05 June 2013

  Χρηματοοικονομική μεταρρύθμιση και η «φάλαινα του Σίτι»

  Jan Kregel
  Abstract

  Η πρόσφατη έκθεση της μόνιμης υποεπιτροπής της αμερικανικής Γερουσίας για τις έρευνες σχετικά με τις δραστηριότητες της μονάδας Συνθετικού Χαρτοφυλακίου Πιστοδοτήσεων της JPMorgan Chase, που είναι επίσης γνωστή ως η «φάλαινα του Σίτι του Λονδίνου», έστρεψε εκ νέου την προσοχή στους κινδύνους των χρηματιστηριακών πράξεων/αγοραπωλησιών για ίδιο λογαριασμό (proprietary trading) από ασφαλισμένες τράπεζες και αποκαλύπτει το εύρος και την έκταση των κινδύνων που συνεχίζουν να υπάρχουν στο χρηματοοικονομικό σύστημα μετά την ενεργοποίηση του νόμου Dodd-Frank.

  Download Μονοσέλιδο No. 38 PDF (230.47 KB)
• Working Paper No.765 14 May 2013

  The Economic Crisis of 2008 and the Added Worker Effect in Transition Countries

  Tamar Khitarishvili
  Abstract
  Following the financial crisis of 2008, transition countries—the economies of Central and Eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union—experienced an increase in female labor force participation rates and a decrease in male labor force participation rates, in part because male-dominated sectors were hit the hardest. These developments have prompted many to argue that women have been spared the full-blown effects of the crisis. In this paper, we critically evaluate this claim by investigating the extent to which the increase in the female labor force participation rate may have reflected a distress labor supply response to the crisis. We use the data on the 28 countries of the transition region assessed in the 2010 Life in Transition Survey. We find the presence of the female added worker effect, driven by married 45- to 54-year-old women with no children in the household. This effect is the strongest among the region’s middle-income countries. Among men, a negative relationship between labor force participation and household-specific income shocks is indicated.

  Unlike the differences in the response to household-specific income shocks, the labor supply response to a weaker macroeconomic environment is negative for both men and women—hinting at the presence of the “discouraged worker” effect, which cuts across gender lines. We conclude that the decrease in men’s labor force participation observed during this crisis is likely a combined result of the initial sectoral contraction and the subsequent impact of the discouraged worker effect. For women, on the other hand, the added worker effect appears to outweigh the discouraged worker effect, contributing to an increase in their labor force participation rate. Our findings highlight the presence of heterogeneity in the way in which household-specific shocks, as opposed to economy-wide conditions, affect both female and male labor force participation rates.

  Download Working Paper No. 765 PDF (310.11 KB)
• Working Paper No.764 10 May 2013

  Modeling the Housing Market in OECD Countries

  Philip Arestis and Ana Rosa González
  Abstract

  Recent episodes of housing bubbles, which occurred in several economies after the burst of the United States housing market, suggest studying the evolution of housing prices from a global perspective. We utilize a theoretical model for the purposes of this contribution, which identifies the main drivers of housing price appreciation—for example, income, residential investment, financial elements, fiscal policy, and demographics. In the second stage of our analysis, we test our theoretical hypothesis by means of a sample of 18 Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) countries from 1970 to 2011. We employ the vector error correction econometric technique in terms of our empirical analysis. This allows us to model the long-run equilibrium relationship and the short-run dynamics, which also helps to account for endogeneity and reverse-causality problems.

  Download Working Paper No. 764 PDF (294.18 KB)
• Policy Notes No.5 07 May 2013

  The New Rome

  C. J. Polychroniou
  Abstract

  The European Union (EU) is a treaty-based organization that was set up after World War II as a means of putting an end to a favorite practice of the Europeans: sorting out their national differences by engaging in bloody warfare. The European experiment—the formation of a Common Market, which led eventually to economic and monetary union—has been linked to some remarkable outcomes: Europe has experienced its longest period of peace since the end of World War II, and war among European member-states now seems highly unlikely. Naturally, senior EU officials never miss an opportunity to remind the public of this achievement whenever the policies of the “new Rome” are questioned by a European citizenship fed up with authoritarian decision-making processes by the EU core, bank bailouts masquerading as national bailouts, austerity policies—and what amounts to the pillaging of the debtor countries by the center.

  Download Policy Note 2013/5 PDF (252.43 KB)
• Working Paper No.763 07 May 2013

  The Problem of Excess Reserves, Then and Now

  Walker F. Todd
  Abstract

  This working paper looks at excess reserves in historical context and analyzes whether they constitute a monetary policy problem for the Federal Reserve System (the “Fed”) or a potentially inflationary problem for the rest of us. Generally, this analysis shows that both absolute and relative sizes of excess reserves are a big problem for the Fed as well as the general public be-cause of their inflationary potential. However, like all contingencies, the timing and extent of the damage that reserve-driven inflation might cause are uncertain. It is even possible today to find articles in both scholarly circles and the popular press arguing either that the inflationary blow-off might never happen or that an increasing tendency toward prolonged deflation is the more probable outcome.

  Download Working Paper No. 763 PDF (147.49 KB)
• Working Paper No.763 07 May 2013

  Το πρόβλημα με τα πλεονάζοντα αποθεματικά στο παρελθόν και σήμερα

  Walker F. Todd
  Abstract

  Η παρούσα εργασία εξετάζει από ιστορικό πλαίσιο τα πλεονάζοντα αποθεματικά και αναλύει αν αποτελούν πρόβλημα νομισματικής πολιτικής για την Ομοσπονδιακή Τράπεζα των ΗΠΑ (Fed) ή ένα ενδεχομένως πληθωριστικό πρόβλημα για τους υπόλοιπους από εμάς. Σε γενικές γραμμές, η ανάλυση δείχνει ότι τόσο σε απόλυτα όσο και σε σχετικά μεγέθη τα πλεονάζοντα αποθεματικά είναι ένα μεγάλο πρόβλημα για την Fed καθώς και για το ευρύ κοινό λόγω της πληθωριστικής δυνατότητας που διαθέτουν. Ωστόσο, όπως με όλους τους κινδύνους, το χρονικό πλαίσιο και η έκταση των ζημιών που μπορεί να προκαλέσει ο πληθωρισμός που καθοδηγείται από τα αποθεματικά δεν μπορούν να προσδιοριστούν. Μπορεί ακόμα και σήμερα να βρει κανείς τόσο επιστημονικά όσο και δημοσιογραφικά άρθρα που να υποστηρίζουν είτε ότι μια έκρηξη πληθωρισμού δεν θα μπορούσε ποτέ να συμβεί είτε ότι μια αυξανόμενη τάση προς τον παρατεταμένο αποπληθωρισμό είναι το πιο πιθανό αποτέλεσμα.

  Download Επιστημονική εργασία υπό εξέλιξη (Working Paper) No. 763 PDF (457.17 KB)
• Policy Notes No.4 29 April 2013

  Διδάγματα από τo Κυπριακό «κούρεμα» των καταθέσεων για την ασφάλιση των τραπεζικών καταθέσεων στην ΕΕ

  Jan Kregel
  Abstract

  Τον Μάρτιο του τρέχοντος έτους, η κυβέρνηση της Κύπρου πρότεινε ως λύση για την κρίση των Κυπριακών τραπεζών και ως μέρος μιας διαπραγμάτευσης για την εξασφάλιση έκτακτης οικονομικής στήριξης για το χρηματοοικονομικό της σύστημα από την Ευρωπαϊκή Ένωση (ΕΕ) και το Διεθνές Νομισματικό Ταμείο (ΔΝΤ) φόρο επί των τραπεζικών καταθέσεων, συμπεριλαμβανομένης μιας εισφοράς (που αργότερα αποσύρθηκε από το τελικό σχέδιο) επί των ασφαλισμένων καταθέσεων κάτω των 100 χιλιάδων ευρώ. Μια κατανόηση της διπλής λειτουργίας των τραπεζών και των σχέσεων μεταξύ των δύο ειδών για λογαριασμούς καταθέσεων—καταθέσεις των πελατών σε ρευστό και καταθέσεις που δημιουργούνται από τραπεζικά δάνεια—μας βοηθάει στην αποσαφήνιση ορισμένων προβλημάτων που εμπεριέχει η φορολόγηση των καταθέσεων στην Κύπρο ενώ ρίχνει φως όσον αφορά τους σκοπούς και τους περιορισμούς της ασφάλισης των καταθέσεων.

  Download Σημείωμα Πολιτικής 2013/4 PDF (417.86 KB)
• Policy Notes No.4 29 April 2013

  Lessons from the Cypriot Deposit Haircut for EU Deposit Insurance Schemes

  Jan Kregel
  Abstract

  In March of this year, the government of Cyprus, in response to a banking crisis and as part of a negotiation to secure emergency financial support for its financial system from the European Union (EU) and International Monetary Fund (IMF), proposed the assessment of a tax on bank deposits, including a levy (later dropped from the final plan) on insured demand deposits below the 100,000 euro insurance threshold. An understanding of banks’ dual operations and of the relationship between two types of deposits—deposits of customers’ currency and coin, and deposit accounts created by bank loans—helps clarify some of the problems with the Cypriot deposit tax, while illuminating both the purposes and limitations of deposit insurance.

  Download Policy Note 2013/4 PDF (219.45 KB)
• Public Policy Brief No.129 26 April 2013

  More Swimming Lessons from the London Whale

  Jan Kregel
  Abstract

  This policy brief by Senior Scholar and Program Director Jan Kregel builds on an earlier analysis (Policy Note 2012/6) of JPMorgan Chase and the actions of the “London Whale,” and what this episode reveals about the larger risks inherent in the financial system. It is clear that the Dodd-Frank Act failed to prevent massive losses by one of the world’s largest banks. This is undeniable evidence that work remains to be done to reform the financial system. Toward this end, Kregel reviews the findings of a recent report by the Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations and expands on the lessons that we can draw from the evolution of the London Whale episode. 

  Download Public Policy Brief No. 129, 2013 PDF (245.95 KB)
• Public Policy Brief No.128 20 April 2013

  Από τα δίχτυα ασφαλείας στην οικονομική ενδυνάμωση

  Rania Antonopoulos
  Abstract

  Τα προγράμματα κοινωνικής προστασίας περιλαμβάνουν δημόσιες πολιτικές που είναι σχεδιασμένες
  για να εμποδίσουν ή να απαλείψουν την ανασφάλεια και τη φτώχεια. Σε όλο τον αναπτυσσόμενο κόσμο, οι στρατηγικές κοινωνικής προστασίας και ο διάλογος γύρω από αυτές εξελίσσονται ραγδαία. Στο παρόν κείμενο πολιτικής, η Ράνια Αντωνοπούλου, Senior Scholar και διευθύντρια του προγράμματος για την ισότητα των φύλων και την οικονομία στο Levy Institute, υπογραμμίζει τις δυνατότητες και τις προκλήσεις που εμπεριέχει η προώθηση της ισότητας των φύλων και η ενδυνάμωση των γυναικών στο μεταλλασσόμενο τοπίο χάραξης πολιτικής. Η μελέτη, που έγινε με την στήριξη του προγράμματος ανάπτυξης του Οργανισμού Ηνωμένων Εθνών, στοχεύει στο να συνεισφέρει στις πολιτικές κοινωνικής προστασίας βάσει φύλου σε επίπεδο χώρας.

  Download Κείμενο Δημόσιας Πολιτικής No. 128 PDF (1.34 MB)