It isn't just about Greece: domestic politics, transparency and fiscal gimmickry in Europe

Alt, James, Lassen, David Dreyer and Wehner, Joachim ORCID: 0000-0002-1951-308X (2014) It isn't just about Greece: domestic politics, transparency and fiscal gimmickry in Europe. British Journal of Political Science, 44 (4). 707 - 716. ISSN 0007-1234

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Abstract

This article analyzes the political origins of differences in adherence to the fiscal framework of the European Union (EU). It shows how incentives to use fiscal policy for electoral purposes and limited budget transparency at the national level, combined with the need to respond to fiscal rules at the supranational level, interact to systematically undermine the Economic and Monetary Union through the employment of fiscal gimmicks or creative accounting. It also explains in detail how national accounts were manipulated to produce electoral cycles that were under the radar of the EU budget surveillance system, and concludes with new perspectives on the changes to (and challenges for) euro area fiscal rules.

Item Type:	Article
Official URL:	http://journals.cambridge.org/action/displayJourna...
Additional Information:	© 2014 Cambridge University Press
Divisions:	Government
Subjects:	H Social Sciences > HC Economic History and Conditions H Social Sciences > HN Social history and conditions. Social problems. Social reform
Date Deposited:	11 Jul 2014 11:51
Last Modified:	12 Dec 2024 00:40
Funders:	London School of Economics and Political Science Research Committee Seed Fund, Suntory and Toyota International Centres for Economics and Related Disciplines, Harvard’s Weatherhead Center, Economic Policy Research Network (EPRN)
URI:	http://eprints.lse.ac.uk/id/eprint/57639

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