Is the ECB sufficiently accountable and transparent? CEPS Working Document No. 169, July 2001

More than two years after its inception, the ECB is still perceived as lacking transparency by many academics and market participants.1 Our analysis, based on a series of indicators, suggests instead that the ECB is, at least on paper, one of the most transparent and accountable central banks. The discrepancy between theory and public perception suggests that much remains to be done within the given institutional framework to improve the transparency of the ECB. What is the best way to achieve this goal? Several suggestions have been put forward, such as publishing the detailed minutes of the ECB Governing Council meetings. This would result in shifting the true debate to informal meetings of the Governing Council, while formal meetings would only record pre-packaged consensus with no or little discussion. In our view, the best way to make the ECB more accountable is to engage it in substantive discussions about its policy. The ECB should provide more information about the background analysis that leads to policy decisions. For example, the ECB should transform its ‘staff projections’ into true inflation forecasts and it should be more open about the arguments that shape the internal debates, which precedes decisions. Accountability cannot be ensured by the ECB alone. An important role has to be played by its counterparts, such as the European Parliament, the Council of EU Finance Ministers and the public at large

Caratteristiche principali dell'emissione di galassie a spirale

Le galassie sono i mattoni fondamentali dell’Universo. Esse sono composte da stelle, gas e polvere; questi ultimi costituiscono il Mezzo Interstellare, noto anche come ISM, il quale viene suddiviso in quattro fasi caratterizzate da diverse temperature e densità. In questo elaborato si andranno ad analizzare innanzitutto le proprietà delle suddette fasi dell’ISM; successivamente ci si concentrerà sui vari processi di emissione delle galassie a spirale, i quali vengono divisi in due tipologie: processi nel continuo (Corpo nero, Bremsstrahlung, Sincrotrone, Inverse Compton, emissione da parte di polveri e di raggi cosmici), dove la radiazione viene emessa in un intervallo di frequenze, e processi in riga (righe di ricombinazione, riga a 21cm dell'HI, righe molecolari), dove la radiazione viene emessa ad una frequenza caratteristica

Business Model and Non-Financial Key Performance Indicator Disclosure

Business model disclosure is proposed as a communication tool for companies to increase the effectiveness of non-financial key performance indicator (NFKPI) disclosure. First, business model enables the identification of indicators that are aligned with strategic objectives. Moreover, it acts as an integrated framework, showing how different capitals are combined to create value

Austerity: European democracies against the wall. CEPS Paperbacks. July 2013

The crisis in the eurozone has had a dramatic impact on the economic and social fabric of European countries. However important it may be, the economic dimension is only the symptom of a broader problem. The crisis is primarily political in nature. Lorenzo Bini Smaghi argues in this book that the crisis reflects the inability of western democracies to solve problems that have been building for over two decades. He finds that democratically elected officials are loathe to take unpopular decisions that could jeopardise their re-election. Emergency thus becomes the engine of political action, and the justification for corrective measures vis-à-vis the voters. As a consequence, the cure in the form of austerity, administered belatedly and under pressure from the markets, becomes even more painful and unpopular, giving rise to populist movements and endangering democracy itself

How Can the ECB be Credible?

Digitised version produced by the EUI Library and made available online in 2020

Business Model Reporting: Why the Perception of Preparers and Users Matters

The aim of this work is to investigate the alignment of preparers’ and users’ perceptions of the BM and its constitutive elements. Results show that, while both categories assign great importance to this concept, different conceptions of the purpose and the components of a BM emerge