Countries increasingly rely on independent fiscal councils to constrain policymakers'
discretion and curb the bias towards excessive deficits and pro-cyclical policies. Since fiscal …

In this article, we review the theoretical consequences of government purchases shocks for
both closed and open economies, followed by a discussion of the empirical literature. Next …

Using real-time data, we examine whether fiscal policy has been counter-or procyclical in a
panel of 27 European Union (EU) member states over the period 2000–2015. We also …

Rather than stabilising aggregate demand, discretionary fiscal policy tends to amplify
cyclical fluctuations of output. The commonly accepted reasons are political economy and …

Eurozone members are supposedly constrained by the fiscal caps of the Stability and
Growth Pact. Yet ever since the birth of the euro, members have postponed painful …

The paper studies forecasts of real growth rates and budget balances made by official
government agencies among 33 countries. In general, the forecasts are found:(i) to have a …

Historically, many countries have suffered a pattern of procyclical fiscal policy: spending too
much in booms and then forced to cut back in recessions. This problem has especially …

This paper presents, for the first time, multi-dimensional indices of the quality of budget
institutions in low-income countries. The indices allow for benchmarking against the …

After significant progress as an immediate result of the euro crisis, the drive to complete
Europe's Economic and Monetary Union (EMU) has decelerated. While there is a broad …

We analyse the budget balance forecasts prepared by 15 European countries in their
Excessive Deficit Procedure reportings, studying the statistical properties of forecast errors …