Monetary Financing in the Euro Area: A Free Lunch?

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Series Details Vol.50, No.4, July-August 2015
Publication Date July 2015
ISSN 0020-5346
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Two recent proposals for overcoming the euro area crisis make the case for monetary financing of the public sector. Watt proposes that the ECB finances public investment directly, while Pâris and Wyplosz contend that public debt may be effectively restructured by burying parts of it in the balance sheet of the Eurosystem. Both proposals place the ECB at the centre of matters generally considered to be fiscal in order to circumvent existing fiscal and political constraints. This paper argues that both proposals fudge the line between monetary and fiscal policy, thereby ignoring valid reasons for separating these two macroeconomic policy areas.

[Full text of articles can be found in the Intereconomics Archive two years after the initial publication]

Source Link Link to Main Source http://www.intereconomics.eu/archive/year/2015/4/monetary-financing-in-the-euro-area-a-free-lunch/
Related Links
Intereconomics: Archive http://archive.intereconomics.eu/years/
Intereconomics, Vol.50, No.6, November-December 2015: Monetary Financing: A Response to Silke Tober (Andrew Watt) http://www.intereconomics.eu/archive/year/2015/6/monetary-financing-a-response-to-silke-tober/
Intereconomics, Vol.50, No.6, November-December 2015: Monetary Financing, Take Two – A Reply (Silke Tober) http://www.intereconomics.eu/archive/year/2015/6/monetary-financing-take-two-a-reply/

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