International Selection

As Europe attempts to build a sustainable, prosperous union, it should look to the US and Switzerland for guidance. Both began as defense alliances and only later developed fiscal unions. A column by Hans-Werner Sinn.

Pushing ahead to deeper integration is infeasible politically, allowing the EU to fall apart would be a disaster. Why not take Europe’s long-established «principle of subsidiarity» seriously? A column by Barry Eichengreen.

Overcoming the understandable caution of Chinese households in the face of an uncertain future is key to the indispensable structural change of the economy towards more private consumption. A column by Stephen S. Roach.

The dollar weakened twice during the last two periods of Fed tightening. Although the same thing might not happen again, this means that a rise in the dollar is not inevitable if interest rates go up. A column by Anatole Kaletsky.

The return to the first pillar should adjust automatically in response to changes in productivity growth and demographics. The second pillar should offer unadjusted market rates. A column by Fabrizio Zilibotti.

An even more expansionary monetary-policy stance of the ECB might strengthen the recovery marginally, but at the cost of increasing the eurozone’s already-dangerous imbalances. A column by Daniel Gros.

Central banks are trying to fight deflation by means of unorthodox policies like quantitative easing. But it looks more and more as if on the contrary zero interest rates themselves cause deflation. A column by Christopher Wood.

Allowing existing protectionist trade barriers to remain in place (or worsen) would deprive citizens in TPP countries of higher incomes and deal a damaging blow to international cooperation. A column by Michael J. Boskin.

There is no compelling reason for monetary policy to restrain job creation or GDP growth until excessive inflation becomes an imminent danger. A column by Anatole Kaletsky.

Socialist President Bachelet's politics may not be appealing to business, but the government sticks to sound economic policies, that is: Independent central bank, free trade and balanced budget. A column by Martin Feldstein.

In 2015, like in 1989, European nation-states need more insurance against external pressures and strategic shocks than the nation-state can provide. And now, as then, only the EU can provide it. A column by Harold James.

Chinese growth slows according to schedule, says Barry Eichengreen, professor at Berkeley University. But the sale of US treasuries out of Chinese reserves amounts to a Quantitative Tightening in the US. This could delay a rate hike by the Fed.