Alberto Alesina Libri

A provocative argument that unless Europe takes serious action soon, its economic and political decline is unavoidable, and a clear statement of the steps Europe must take before it's too late.

Focusing on the complexities of currency unions and monetary regimes, this book features insights from a diverse group of experts in international monetary policy. It delves into the conceptual issues surrounding flexible and fixed exchange rates, evaluates empirical evidence on the performance of various monetary systems, and offers policy recommendations tailored to different national contexts. The contributions from renowned economists provide a comprehensive analysis of the benefits and challenges associated with currency unions.

The book explores the interplay between the American economy and national elections, emphasizing how economic policy emerges from compromises between the President and Congress. It highlights the tendency of middle-of-the-road voters to balance power, leading to moderate policies and often divided government. Key concepts include the rational partisan business cycle and the midterm election cycle, both influenced by uncertainties surrounding presidential elections. Additionally, it examines retrospective voting, coat-tails, and incumbency advantages, with insights applicable to other industrial democracies.

Fiscal austerity is hugely controversial. Opponents argue that it can trigger downward growth spirals and become self-defeating. Supporters argue that budget deficits have to be tackled aggressively at all times and at all costs. In this masterful book, three of today's leading policy experts cut through the political noise to demonstrate that there is not one type of austerity but many. Looking at thousands of fiscal measures adopted by sixteen advanced economies since the late 1970s, "Austerity" assesses the relative effectiveness of tax increases and spending cuts at reducing debt. It shows that spending cuts have much smaller costs in terms of output losses than tax increases. Spending cuts can sometimes be associated with output gains in the case of expansionary austerity and are much more successful than tax increases at reducing the growth of debt. The authors also show that austerity is not necessarily the kiss of death for political careers as is often believed, and provide new insights into the recent cases of European austerity after the financial crisis. Bringing needed clarity to one of today's most challenging subjects, "Austerity" charts a sensible approach based on data analysis rather than ideology

In this this timely study of the different approaches of America and Europe to the problems of domestic inequality and poverty, the authors describe just how different the two continents are in the level of State engagement in the redistribution of income. They discuss various possible economic explanations for the difference, including different levels of pre-tax income, openness, and social mobility; they survey politico-historical differences such as the varying physical size of nations, their electoral and legal systems, and the character of their political parties, as well as their experiences of war; and they examine sociological explanations which include different attitudes to the poor and notions of social responsibility, as well as, most importantly, attitudes to race.

En "El futuro de Europa", Alesina y Giavazzi advierten sobre el declive económico y político de Europa si no se implementan reformas. Comparan la cultura laboral europea con la estadounidense, sugiriendo que Europa debe adoptar un modelo de libre mercado para mejorar su productividad y relevancia global. Sus propuestas generarán controversia, pero son cruciales para el futuro del continente.