Redesigning EU fiscal rules: from rules to standards

Fiscal Rules and Fiscal Performance in the EU and Japan

Fiscal rules specify quantitative targets for key budgetary aggregates. In this paper, we review the experience with such rules in Japan and in the EU. Comparing the performance of fiscal policy in the 1980s and 1990s until 2003, we find that the fiscal rule of the 1980s exerted some but not much disciplinary influence on Japanese fiscal policy. The fiscal rule of the Maastricht Treaty had a si...

Implementation Rules for Fiscal Decentralization

Simple, Implementable Fiscal Policy Rules

This paper analyzes the scope for systematic rules-based fiscal activism in open economies. Relative to a balanced budget rule, automatic stabilizers significantly improve welfare. But they minimize fiscal instrument volatility rather than business cycle volatility. A more aggressively countercyclical tax revenue gap rule increases welfare gains by around 50 percent, with only modest increases ...

Debt Level and Fiscal Rules in Iran According to Budget Structural Reform

Oil-exporting countries often escalate macroeconomic fluctuations by adopting cyclical fiscal policies. Empirical evidence shows that the main reason of instability in oil-exporting countries is the poor management of oil. In this study, after introducing a small open macroeconomic model with a dual managed floating exchange rate regime and estimating it using quarterly macroeconomic data of Ir...

Rules, Standards and Geeks