Speakers: Vitor Constancio, Lucio Baccaro, Waltraud Schelkle, Poul Thomsen, Benedicta Marzinotto

Fiscal policy is all about power – the power to tax, to borrow and to spend. The exercise of this power is calibrated against a system of checks and balances, which then translates into a fiscal framework and fiscal rules. Some, therefore, argue that the design of the fiscal framework and rules underpinning it have significant consequences for the future pathway of the European economies. Others, suggest that the fiscal framework and rules behind less important, and what matters is how fiscal policy is actually implemented – especially at the member state level. In any case, if the design and implantation of fiscal policy is all about power – who has the power to design and implement fiscal policy? What influences policy-makers when taking decisions around fiscal policy? Who benefits/suffers from the design and implementation of the European Fiscal Framework? How should the framework be reformed to make Europe’s economies more resilient? Taking a political economy lens, this event seeks to answer some of these questions and more.

This event is organised by the New Economics Foundation and the Max Planck Institute