'In this collection of essays, some of the most prominent economists in the field analyse fiscal policy issues today. The resulting book is of excellent academic quality, touching on topical subjects relevant to both academic and policy circles.' Evi Pappa, European University Institute, Florence
1. Introduction and overview Ľudovít Ódor; Part I. Frontiers of Fiscal Policy: 2. Fiscal analysis is darned hard Eric M. Leeper; 3. Fiscal implications of central bank balance sheet policies Athanasios Orphanides; Part II. Better Institutions for Better Fiscal Policy: 4. Fiscal rules in the world Klaus Schmidt-Hebbel and Raimundo Soto; 5. Fiscal councils: rational and effectiveness Roel W. M. J. Beetsma and Xavier Debrun; 6. Fiscal discipline in a monetary union without fiscal union Charles Wyplosz; 7. Lost in complexity. Towards a decentralised and de-politicised fiscal framework in Europe Ľudovít Ódor and Gábor P. Kiss; 8. Partial fiscalisation: some historical lessons on Europe´s unfinished business Michael Bordo and Harold James; 9. Managing the euro area debt crisis George Kopits; Part III. New Analytical Perspectives: 10. Problems with deficit accounting Jerry R. Green and Laurence J. Kotlikoff; 11. Fiscal policy and financial distress: a balance sheet perspective John Fitzgerald and Philip R. Lane; 12. Financial cycles and fiscal cycles Agustín S. Bénétrix and Philip R. Lane; 13. Fiscal sustainability and the financial cycle Claudio Borio, Marco Lombardi and Fabrizio Zampolli; 14. Calibrating the cost of defaulting in models of sovereign defaults Juan Carlos Hatchondo and Leonardo Martinez; Part IV. The Comeback of Discretionary Fiscal Policy: 15. What do we know about fiscal multipliers? Carlo Favero and Madina Karamysheva; 16. Government as borrower and innovator of last resort Richard C. Koo; 17. Fiscal consolidation strategies Christian Kastrop, Boris Cournéde, Falilou Fall and Annabelle Mourougane; 18. Discretionary fiscal policy and recessions Fabrizio Coricelli, Riccardo Fiorito and Francesco Molteni.