19/01/2016 : ECFIN Workshop – "Fiscal policy after the crisis"

The workshop on Fiscal Policy after the Crisis will be a one-day event featuring two sessions of analytical presentations followed by discussants’ analysis and debate.

• The first session gathers papers analysing fiscal policy within a low-inflation context.
• The second session will include selected papers on the topic of fiscal policy after the crisis, by analysing developments in debt, investments and inequality.
• High-profile authors and discussants from the academia and international institutions will distil lessons on how to best conduct fiscal policy in an environment of high debt and low inflation in which nominal interest rates cannot decrease further. In this context, low growth, related to low investment exacerbates social challenges making the choices of fiscal policy makers very hard.

09:00-09:30	Registration and welcome coffee
09:30-09:45	Introduction: Marco Buti (DG ECFIN)
09:45-12:45	Fiscal policy in a low inflation context Chair: Lucio Pench (DG ECFIN)
09:45-10:30	Fiscal Consolidation in a Disinflationary Environment: Price-Based versus Quantity-Based Measures(2 MB)   Evi Pappa, Rana Sajedi and Eugenia Vella (European University Institute) Discussant: Raf Wouters (National Bank of Belgium)
10:30-11:00	Coffee break
11:00-11:45	Public finances and inflation: the case of Spain(846 kB)   Samuel Hurtado, Pablo Hernández de Cos, and Francisco Martí and Javier J. Pérez (Banco de Espana) Discussant: Werner Roeger (European Commission)
11:45-12:30	Deflation and Public Finances: Evidence from the Historical Records Nicolas End, Sampawende J.-A. Tapsoba, Gilbert Terrier, and Renaud Duplay (International Monetary Fund) Discussant: Martin Larch (European Commission)
12:30-14:00	Lunch break
14:00-17:00	Fiscal policy after the crisis Chair: Carlos Martinez Mongay (DG ECFIN)
14:00-14:45	Optimal tax smoothing when debt is subject to asymmetric shocks(661 kB)   Julio Escolano, Vitor Gaspar (International Monetary Fund) Discussant: Carlo Favero (Bocconi University)
14:45-15:30	Fiscal consolidation, inequality and poverty: an empirical analysis(2 MB)   Tim Buyse (University of Ghent) Discussant: Christian Kastrop (OECD)
15:30-16:00	Coffee break
16:00-16:45	Economic Growth and Public and Private Investment Returns(553 kB)   António Afonso, Miguel St. Aubyn (University of Lisbon) Discussant: Narcissa Balta (European Commission)
16:45-17:00	Conclusion