Abstract
The crisis of “global finance” that broke into the open in 2008 has not been resolved so far. There is a broad consensus that it is in the interest of all countries to find a solution that will prevent a drastic erosion of the value of financial assets—people’s savings—and will allow a return to sustained growth. This solution will have to be based on reliable theoretical concepts and up-to-date data and analyses. Above all, it will need political cooperation, innovation and reforms. A key task in this context is the rebuilding of a stable international monetary system.
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Notes
Some of these had already been raised by the author in earlier years and again more recently. See, for example, Otto Hieronymi (1998) “Agenda for a New Monetary Reform,” Futures, Vol. 30, No. 8, pp. 769–81;
Otto Hieronymi (ed.) (2009) Globalization and the Reform of the International Banking and Monetary System, Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan; Otto Hieronymi (2009) “Rebuilding the International Monetary Order: The Responsibility of Europe, Japan and the United States,” Revista de Economia Mundial (Madrid), No. 29, pp. 197–226, October.
“In ‘Equilibrium and Disequilibrium: Misplaced Concreteness and Disguised Politics’ (1958), Machlup argues that the most prevalent use of the equilibrium concept in economics is as a methodological device in abstract theory, a ‘useful fiction’ that is a part of a mental experiment designed to analyze causal connections between ‘events’ or ‘changes of variables.’” Carol M. Connell (2011), “Why Economists Disagree: Fritz Machlup’s Use of Framing at the Bellagio Group Conferences,” PSL Quarterly Review, Vol. 64, No. 257, pp. 143–66. See also
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“The high debt-to-GDP-ratios that many Member States had already accumulated even before the crisis, showed that the EDP (Excessive Deficit Procedure) had not been effective in curbing debt developments. The reform therefore introduced new provisions to render operational the debt criterion of the EDP. … On 23 November 2011, the European Commission tabled a proposal for two new regulations to further strengthen fiscal discipline and surveillance in the euro area. The proposal is often referred to as the ‘two-pack.’ This is still under discussion in Parliament and Council. For euro area Member States in the EDP, the planned rules introduce a new system of monitoring. If adopted by the Council, this would more regularly provide the Commission with the information needed to judge whether or not there was a risk of non-compliance with the deadline set by the Council to correct the excessive deficit.” European Commission (2012) “Commission Sets Out the Next Steps for Stability, Growth and Jobs,” Press release, Brussels, May 30.
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“The signatory Member States commit themselves to implement in their legislation a fiscal rule which requires that the general government budget be balanced or in surplus. The fiscal rule is considered to be respected if the annual structural balance meets the country-specific medium-term objective and does not exceed a deficit (in structural terms) of 0.5% of GDP. If the government debt ratio is significantly below 60% of GDP and risks to long-term fiscal sustainability are low, the medium-term objective can be set as low as a structural deficit of at most 1% of GDP.” Deutsche Bundesbank (2012) Monatsbericht, März 2012 64, Jahrgang Nr. 3, Frankfurt am Main, March, p. 101.
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Hieronymi, O. (2013). The International Monetary System and the Debt Issue. In: Hieronymi, O., Stephanou, C.A. (eds) International Debt. Palgrave Macmillan Studies in Banking and Financial Institutions. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1057/9781137030573_2
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