What explains the surge in euro area sovereign spreads during the financial crisis of 2007-09?

This paper uses a dynamic panel approach to explain the determinants of widening sovereign bond yield spreads vis-à-vis Germany in selected euro area countries during the period end-July 2007 to end-March 2009, when the financial turmoil developed into a full-blown financial and economic crisis. Emphasis is given to the role of fiscal fundamentals and government announcements of substantial bank rescue packages. The paper finds that higher expected budget deficits and/or higher government debt ratios relative to Germany contributed to higher government bond yield spreads in the euro area during the analysed period. More importantly, the announcements of bank rescue packages have led to a re-assessment, from the part of investors, of sovereign credit risk, first and foremost through a transfer of risk from the private financial sector to the government. JEL Classification: E62, E43, G12Fiscal Announcements, Fiscal Policy, Sovereign Spreads

Artistic Vision In Literature

In lieu of an abstract, below is the essay\u27s first paragraph. In any art, the artist faces the problem of presenting a creative vision through a medium. Sound, paint, marble, clay and other materials are the media of music and the visual arts. Literature uses as its medium that phenomenon of civilization, the word. No matter what his art, the artist must be faithful to his medium, shaping it by his creativity to form a unified work, or else he loses his effect as an artist in his chosen medium

Labour tax progressivity and output volatility: evidence from OECD countries

This paper investigates empirically the effect of personal income tax progressivity on output volatility in a sample of OECD countries over the period 1982-2009. Our measure of tax progressivity is based on the difference between the marginal and the average income tax rate for the average production worker. We find supportive empirical evidence for the hypothesis that higher personal income tax progressivity leads to lower output volatility. All other factors constant, countries with more progressive personal income tax systems seem to benefit from stronger automatic stabilisers. JEL Classification: E63, E32, H10automatic stabilisers, output volatility, personal income taxes, Progressivity

Institutional change and FDI in three selected CEECs: The Czech Republic, Hungary and Poland

The European enlargement provides new space for re-organizing the production and re-locating the plants. Few studies approach the complex theme of industrial location in the EU new-comers: statistics are still scarce, language constitutes a barrier for assuming reliable information, and the differences in the economic and institutional structure bring further difficulties. This paper aims at investigating the relation between institutional change in this area and FDI. In particular, the focus will be on the privatisation process, which has played a major role in determining the behaviour of the firms and thus the direction of the FDI

Micro and Mainframe Computer Models for Improved Planning in Awarding Financial Aid to Disadvantaged Students

This article reports the development of two computer models, one mainframe the other microcomputer, which are intended to maximize financial aid awards to disadvantaged students. The models recognize the tendency of students from low-income and minority backgrounds to apply for assistance late in the funding cycle, and permit institutional aid administrators to project the amount of aid needed by such students and to plan for an adequate inventory of funds to accommodate their needs