Economic Adjustment in the Euro Area & the United States During the COVID-19 Crisis

Economic Adjustment in the Euro Area & the United States During the COVID-19 Crisis PDF Author:
Publisher:
ISBN: 9789276446279
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 0

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Book Description
The COVID-19 crisis was a major economic shock to both the euro area and the United States. The US experienced a larger impact on human health but suffered a smaller economic contraction. Both regions experienced a faster pace of the recovery than during the global financial crisis. In spite of the larger decline in GDP, the labour market in the euro area remained resilient as job retention schemes and other measures have protected employment, while the US saw sharp changes in employment and unemployment and participation rates. There remains also significant uncertainty over the possible impact of COVID-19 on productivity growth. The latest developments should be seen in the context of longer-term trends. Divergence in per capita incomes between the euro area and the US grew after the global financial crisis, with a decline in euro area TFP growth being the most important factor. Despite the employment rate reaching historically high levels in the euro area before COVID-19, it remained lower than in the US, weighing on the relative growth performance. Capital deepening has stagnated in both regions since the global financial crisis, although private investment in the US has proven more dynamic overall. In stark contrast with the period after the global financial crisis, many euro area governments have now delivered substantial public investment, supported by the Recovery and Resilience Facility. Finally, this paper highlights some tentative lessons for the euro area and it puts forward some issues for further research.

Economic Adjustment in the Euro Area & the United States During the COVID-19 Crisis

Economic Adjustment in the Euro Area & the United States During the COVID-19 Crisis PDF Author:
Publisher:
ISBN: 9789276446279
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 0

Get Book Here

Book Description
The COVID-19 crisis was a major economic shock to both the euro area and the United States. The US experienced a larger impact on human health but suffered a smaller economic contraction. Both regions experienced a faster pace of the recovery than during the global financial crisis. In spite of the larger decline in GDP, the labour market in the euro area remained resilient as job retention schemes and other measures have protected employment, while the US saw sharp changes in employment and unemployment and participation rates. There remains also significant uncertainty over the possible impact of COVID-19 on productivity growth. The latest developments should be seen in the context of longer-term trends. Divergence in per capita incomes between the euro area and the US grew after the global financial crisis, with a decline in euro area TFP growth being the most important factor. Despite the employment rate reaching historically high levels in the euro area before COVID-19, it remained lower than in the US, weighing on the relative growth performance. Capital deepening has stagnated in both regions since the global financial crisis, although private investment in the US has proven more dynamic overall. In stark contrast with the period after the global financial crisis, many euro area governments have now delivered substantial public investment, supported by the Recovery and Resilience Facility. Finally, this paper highlights some tentative lessons for the euro area and it puts forward some issues for further research.

Economic Policy and the Covid-19 Crisis

Economic Policy and the Covid-19 Crisis PDF Author: Bernadette Andreosso-O'Callaghan
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1000461718
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 214

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Book Description
This book offers an assessment of the different monetary and fiscal policy responses that have been implemented by national governments in major European and Asian countries faced with the Covid-19 crisis since 2020; it also deals with the case of the US experience as a benchmarking example. The book provides a comprehensive cross-country comparative study on health crisis management at the macroeconomic level. Its focus on monetary and fiscal policies across different countries in Asia, Europe and the USA makes it unique. Divided into three parts following a general introduction that sets the context of the study, the book deals with the case of the USA, EU and European countries as well as with that of key Asian countries. Of specific relevance is the European Union and euro-area contexts that serve as a framework to the different EU national monetary and fiscal policy responses. Each chapter deals with a specific country, including Italy and the UK in Europe and Singapore and South Korea in Asia, and covers the following topics: the extent of the outbreak of the public health crisis and its macroeconomic impact; the comparative examination of fiscal and monetary policy responses to both crises; and an overall assessment of the effectiveness of these policies along with the public health policy to mitigate the economic impact. Given the unprecedented nature of the Covid-19 crisis, anyone eager to know more about its macroeconomic impact and ensuing policies in a comparative framework will be keen to read this book. It will be essential reading to any researcher, policy maker and/or analyst working in the area of public policy and is also a unique contribution to the field of European studies, Asian studies and Comparative Economic Studies.

Corporate Liquidity and Solvency in Europe during COVID-19: The Role of Policies

Corporate Liquidity and Solvency in Europe during COVID-19: The Role of Policies PDF Author: Mr.Christian H Ebeke
Publisher: International Monetary Fund
ISBN: 1513570919
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 48

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Book Description
The spread of COVID-19, containment measures, and general uncertainty led to a sharp reduction in activity in the first half of 2020. Europe was hit particularly hard—the economic contraction in 2020 is estimated to have been among the largest in the world—with potentially severe repercussions on its nonfinancial corporations. A wave of corporate bankruptcies would generate mass unemployment, and a loss of productive capacity and firm-specific human capital. With many SMEs in Europe relying primarily on the banking sector for external finance, stress in the corporate sector could easily translate into pressures in the banking system (Aiyar et al., forthcoming).

Revisiting the Economic Case for Fiscal Union in the Euro Area

Revisiting the Economic Case for Fiscal Union in the Euro Area PDF Author: Mr.Helge Berger
Publisher: International Monetary Fund
ISBN: 1484340426
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 63

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Book Description
The paper makes an analytical contribution to the revived discussion about the euro area’s institutional setup. After significant progress during the euro crisis, the drive to complete Europe’s Economic and Monetary Union (EMU) had stalled, and the way forward will benefit from an in-depth look at the conceptual issues raised by the evolution and architecture of Europe, and the tradeoffs involved. A thorough look at the underlying economic issues suggests that in the long run, EMU will benefit from progressing along three mutually supporting tracks: introduce more fiscal risk sharing, helping to make the sovereign “no bailout” rule credible; complementary financial sector reforms to delink sovereigns and banks; and more effective rules to discourage moral hazard. This evolution would ensure that financial markets provide incentives for fiscal discipline. Introducing more fiscal union comes with myriad legal, technical, operational, and political problems, raising questions well beyond the remit of economics. But without decisive progress to foster fiscal risk sharing, EMU will continue to face existential risks.

Economic and fiscal outlook

Economic and fiscal outlook PDF Author: Office for Budget Responsibility
Publisher: The Stationery Office
ISBN: 9780101797924
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 164

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Book Description
The Office for Budget Responsibility was established to provide independent and authoritative analysis of the UK's public finances. Part of this role includes producing the official economic and fiscal forecasts. This report sets out forecasts for the period to 2015-16. The report also assesses whether the Government is on course to meet the medium-term fiscal objectives and presents preliminary observations on the long-run sustainability of the public finances. Since the June forecast, the UK economy has recovered more strongly than initially expected. The GDP growth was greater than expected in both the 2nd and 3rd quarters, but that unemployment levels have risen to levels that the June forecast did not anticipate until the middle of 2012. In general the world economy has also grown more strongly. CPI inflation has remained slightly higher than expected in June, whilst public finances have performed as forecast. The interest rates on UK debt are lower than in June. The OBR forecasts that the economy will continue to recover from the recession, but at a slower pace than the recoveries of the 1970s, 1980s and 1990s. The publication is divided into 5 chapters with two annexes.

Economic Policy for a Pandemic Age

Economic Policy for a Pandemic Age PDF Author: Monica de Bolle
Publisher: Peterson Institute for International Economics
ISBN: 0881327425
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 149

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Book Description
The global health and economic threats from the COVID-19 pandemic are not yet behind us. While the development of multiple safe and highly effective vaccines in less than a year is cause for hope, several significant dangers to recovery of global health and income are still clear and present: New concerning variants of SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, continue to emerge at an alarming rate in different parts of the world; at the same time, vaccine rollouts have been shockingly inefficient even in some rich countries, while much of the developing world waits in line behind them for vaccines to arrive. The Briefing covers several policy areas in which cooperative forward-looking policy action will materially improve our chances of truly escaping today's pandemic and making future pandemics less costly.

EIB Investment Report 2020/2021

EIB Investment Report 2020/2021 PDF Author: European Investment Bank
Publisher: European Investment Bank
ISBN: 9286148127
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 591

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Book Description
The Europe Union's massive efforts to rebuild after the coronavirus pandemic present a unique opportunity to transform its economy, making it more green and digital – and ultimately more competitive. The Investment Report 2020-2021 looks at the toll the pandemic took on European firms' investment and future plans, as well as their efforts to meet the demands of climate change and the digital revolution. The report's analysis is based on a unique set of databases and data from a survey of 12 500 firms conducted in the summer of 2020, in the midst of the COVID-19 crisis. While providing a snapshot of the heavy toll the pandemic took on some forms of investment, the report also offers hope by pointing out the economic areas in which Europe remains strong, such as technologies that combine green and digital innovation.

COVID-19 and Public Support for the Euro

COVID-19 and Public Support for the Euro PDF Author: Felix Roth
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 0

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Book Description
The COVID-19 pandemic had disastrous effects on health and economic activity worldwide, including in the Euro Area. The application of mandatory lockdowns contributed to a sharp fall in production and a rise in unemployment, inducing an expansionary fiscal and monetary response. Using a uniquely large macro database, this paper examines the effects of the pandemic and the ensuing economic policies on public support for the common currency, the euro, as measured by the Eurobarometersurvey. It findsthat public support for the euro reached historically high levels in a majority of the 19 Euro Area member states in the midst of the pandemic. This finding suggests that the expansionary fiscal policies initiated at the EU level significantly contributed to this outcome, while the monetary measures taken by the European Central Bank did not have a similar effect.

The Euro Area's Pandemic Recession

The Euro Area's Pandemic Recession PDF Author:
Publisher:
ISBN: 9789276387541
Category :
Languages : en
Pages :

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Book Description
The COVID-19 pandemic led to a sharp contraction of economic activity in the euro area (and worldwide). Its anatomy differs strongly from other crises in recent history. We analyse the short-term economic effects of the COVID-19 shock through the lens of an estimated DSGE model. We augment the canonical DSGE set-up with "forced savings" (lockdowns, social distancing), labour hoarding (short-time work) and liquidity-constrained firms to capture salient demand and supply effects of the COVID shock and the containment and stabilisation policies. Shock decompositions with the estimated model show the dominant role of "lockdown shocks" ("forced savings", labour hoarding) in explaining the quarterly pattern of real GDP growth in 2020, complemented by a negative contribution from foreign and investment demand particularly in 2020q2 and a negative impact of persistently higher (precautionary) savings. The initial inflation response has been modest compared to the severity of the recession.

The COVID-19 Impact on Corporate Leverage and Financial Fragility

The COVID-19 Impact on Corporate Leverage and Financial Fragility PDF Author: Sharjil M. Haque
Publisher: International Monetary Fund
ISBN: 1589064127
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 51

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Book Description
We study the impact of the COVID-19 recession on capital structure of publicly listed U.S. firms. Our estimates suggest leverage (Net Debt/Asset) decreased by 5.3 percentage points from the pre-shock mean of 19.6 percent, while debt maturity increased moderately. This de-leveraging effect is stronger for firms exposed to significant rollover risk, while firms whose businesses were most vulnerable to social distancing did not reduce leverage. We rationalize our evidence through a structural model of firm value that shows lower expected growth rate and higher volatility of cash flows following COVID-19 reduced optimal levels of corporate leverage. Model-implied optimal leverage indicates firms which did not de-lever became over-leveraged. We find default probability deteriorates most in large, over-leveraged firms and those that were stressed pre-COVID. Additional stress tests predict value of these firms will be less than one standard deviation away from default if cash flows decline by 20 percent.