Pluralist Accountability in Times of Economic Crisis

2020 ◽  
pp. 151-180
Author(s):  
Gisela Hirschmann
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
European Commission ◽  
European Central Bank ◽  
Global Financial Crisis ◽  
Constitutional Court ◽  
The European Union ◽  
The Public ◽  
European Central ◽  
The Global Financial Crisis ◽  
The International Monetary Fund

This chapter analyzes the conditions for pluralist accountability in response to human rights violations that were attributed to the European Union (EU) Troika’s austerity policies that were implemented in Greece and Portugal between 2010 and 2015 in response to the global financial crisis. I demonstrate how competition between national and EU institutions, and between different EU institutions, led the Portuguese Constitutional Court and the European Parliament to develop distinguished profiles as accountability holders. Major differences existed as to the degree of vulnerability of the different Troika institutions to human rights demands: while the International Monetary Fund and European Central Bank rendered themselves immune against human rights demands, the European Commission was more vulnerable due to its broader mandate and the declining trust of the public in EU institutions’ capacity to address the crisis. This explains why a pluralist accountability framework was most active with regard to the European Commission.

scholarly journals Comparison of the Approach of the Czech National Bank and the European Central Bank to the Effects of the Global Financial Crisis

2021 ◽  
Vol 10 (2) ◽  
pp. 18-46
Author(s):  
Andrea Cecrdlova
Keyword(s):  
Monetary Policy ◽  
Interest Rate ◽  
Financial Crisis ◽  
Central Bank ◽  
European Central Bank ◽  
Global Financial Crisis ◽  
Central Banks ◽  
European Central ◽  
National Bank ◽  
The Global Financial Crisis

The latest global crisis, which fully erupted in 2008, can have a significant impact on central banks credibility in the long run. During the last crisis, monetary authorities encountered zero interest rate levels and, as a result, started to use non-standard monetary policy instruments. The Czech National Bank decided to use a less standard instrument in November 2013, when it started to intervene on the foreign exchange market in order to keep the Czech currency at level 27 CZK / EUR. However, the European Central Bank also adopted a non-standard instrument, when chose a path of quantitative easing in 2015 in order to support the euro area economy by purchasing financial assets. The question remains whether the approach of Czech National Bank or the approach of European Central Bank in the crisis and post-crisis period was a more appropriate alternative. With the passage of time from the global financial crisis, it is already possible to compare the approaches of these two central banks and at least partially assess what approach was more appropriate under the given conditions. When comparing the central banks approaches to the crisis, the Czech National Bank was better, both in terms of the rate of interest rate cuts and the resulting inflation with regard to the choice of a non-standard monetary policy instrument. The recent financial crisis has revealed the application of moral hazard in practice, both on behalf of the European Central Bank and the Czech National Bank, which may have a significant impact on their credibility and independence in the coming years.

Open Government

2021 ◽  
pp. 667-682
Author(s):  
Gary Murphy
Keyword(s):  
Public Policy ◽  
International Monetary Fund ◽  
European Central Bank ◽  
Open Government ◽  
Freedom Of Information ◽  
The Public ◽  
European Central ◽  
Public Policy Decisions ◽  
The International Monetary Fund ◽  
Opening Up

Since Irish independence in 1922, governance structures have been excessively secretive. Political and civil service elites operated on a presumption of secrecy and a principle that the public did not need to know about decisions being taken in their name. In the last two decades, a number of policy innovations have gone some way towards providing for a more open polity. These include Ombudsman, regulation of lobbying, and freedom of information legislation, enacted over concerns about payments to politicians and a series of catastrophic public policy decisions that led to the bailout of the Irish economy by the International Monetary Fund, the European Commission, and the European Central Bank. This chapter assesses the importance of the principle of open government in modern Irish politics. It examines the nature of secrecy, assesses the tentative opening up of government since the 1980s, and analyses the open government proposals introduced since 2011.

scholarly journals Denationalization: Neoliberalism after Foucault

2016 ◽  
Vol 27 (1) ◽  
pp. 171-185
Author(s):  
Marcello Barison
Keyword(s):  
European Union ◽  
Central Bank ◽  
International Monetary Fund ◽  
European Central Bank ◽  
Economic Knowledge ◽  
The European Union ◽  
European Central ◽  
Governmental Organizations ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
The International Monetary Fund

Starting from Michel Foucault?s considerations dedicated to economic knowledge (especially in Il faut d?fendre la soci?t? and Naissance de la biopolitique), this paper is about setting up a possible theoretical framework in which to situate the relationship between political power and neoliberalism as they appear in their modern articulation, analyzing in depth how international governmental organizations - such as, for example, the European Central Bank, the European Union and the International Monetary Fund - are involved in this process.

scholarly journals The Federal Reserve’s Dollar Swap Lines and the European Central Bank during the global financial crisis of 2007–09

2020 ◽  
Vol 44 (4) ◽  
pp. 723-747 ◽  
Author(s):  
Emmanuel Carré ◽  
Laurent Le Maux
Keyword(s):  
Central Bank ◽  
Interest Rates ◽  
Federal Reserve ◽  
European Central Bank ◽  
Global Financial Crisis ◽  
Lender Of Last Resort ◽  
European Central ◽  
The Interest Rate ◽  
The Global Financial Crisis

Abstract Although the literature has studied the role of the Federal Reserve as the global lender of last resort in 2007–09, many aspects of the Dollar Swap Lines to the European Central Bank need further exploration. Accordingly, we provide original evidence about the auction operations, allotted amounts and interest rates with regard to the Federal Reserve’s dollar swaps and the European Central Bank’s dollar provision. More specifically, we examine the demand side of the Dollar Swap Lines (whereas the existing literature mentions the supply side only) and we scrutinise the interest rate (whereas the literature concentrates on volumes) set by the Federal Reserve, and also the rate set by the European Central Bank. Our findings cast light on the nature of the relationship between the Federal Reserve and the European Central Bank. Finally, we contribute to the literature on the global lender of last resort by coining the notion of the financial dilemma, under the dollar system within a framework of globalised financial markets.

scholarly journals Actos ultra vires de la unión europea y derecho a la participación política: La decisión del tribunal constitucional alemán sobre el programa de adquisición de deuda pública del banco central europeo = Ultra vires acts of the European Union and the

2014 ◽  
pp. 433
Author(s):  
Leonardo Álvarez Álvarez
Keyword(s):  
Central Bank ◽  
European Central Bank ◽  
Constitutional Court ◽  
The European Union ◽  
European Central ◽  
Federal Constitutional ◽  
The Government ◽  
German Federal Constitutional Court ◽  
Constitutional Identity ◽  
German Federal Constitutional

El 14 de enero de 2014 el Tribunal Constitucional Federal alemán resolvió diferentes recursos presentados contra la Decisión del Consejo del Banco Central Europeo, de 6 de septiembre de 2012, que autorizaba la adquisición de deuda pública de ciertos Estados en un contexto de grave crisis económica. El Tribunal entiende que tal decisión ha vulnerado la identidad constitucional de Alemania e impone al Gobierno y al Parlamento federal el deber de un comportamiento activo para garantizar el respecto de la identidad constitucional. La inobservancia de dicho deber por parte de dichos órganos frente a la decisión del Banco Central Europeo ha vulnerado el derecho fundamental de los recurrentes a la participación política.The January 14, 2014 the German Federal Constitutional Court ruled different appeals against the decision of the Council of the European Central Bank of 6 September 2012, authorizing the acquisition of certain States public debt in a context of severe economic crisis. The Court considers that such a decision has violated the constitutional identity of Germany and imposes the Government and Parliament on federal active duty to conduct to ensure respect for the constitutional identity. The breach of that duty by such bodies against the decision of the European Central Bank has violated the fundamental right of the appellants to political participation.

The left and right hands of the Portuguese state: Welfare retrenchment of public employment

2020 ◽  
Vol 19 (2-3) ◽  
pp. 237-257
Author(s):  
Rosário Mauritti ◽  
Nuno Nunes ◽  
Maria do Carmo Botelho ◽  
Daniela Craveiro
Keyword(s):  
European Central Bank ◽  
Multidimensional Analysis ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Public Employment ◽  
Left Hand ◽  
European Central ◽  
Public Sector Employment ◽  
State Public Policy ◽  
Left And Right ◽  
The International Monetary Fund

This article focuses on welfare retrenchment in Portugal by analysing the evolution of public sector employment up until 2013. A multidimensional analysis of the structure of public employment in the Portuguese state was developed, theoretically guided by the ‘hands of the state’ model proposed by Bourdieu, which divides the main functions of contemporary states between its left hand (more redistributive) and its right hand (more rational economic-oriented). Bourdieu’s approach is especially useful in addressing the transformations of the Portuguese public employment between 1979 and 2013, characterized by specific economic, social and political changes. In 2013 – a year in which the adjustment measures agreed by the Portuguese government, the European Central Bank, the European Commission and the International Monetary Fund during the global crisis were especially intense – we observed the tendency towards the disqualification of public employment and the shrinking of the left hand of the Portuguese state. Public policy orientations in the areas of education and science were particularly troubling, considering the structural backwardness the country faces in these fields in the context of the European Union.

scholarly journals Kryzys zadłużeniowy w strefie euro w latach 2010‑2018

Politeja ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 17 (3(66)) ◽  
pp. 29-52
Author(s):  
Janusz Józef Węc
Keyword(s):  
European Union ◽  
Global Financial Crisis ◽  
Debt Crisis ◽  
System Reform ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Research Questions ◽  
Aid Programs ◽  
The Global Financial Crisis ◽  
High Level ◽  
The International Monetary Fund

The Debt Crisis in the Eurozone in Years 2010‑ 2018. Genesis, Dynamics and Tools to Overcome the Crisis The global financial crisis significantly contributed to the outbreak of the Eurozone debt crisis in 2010 and exposed the institutional weaknesses of the entire zone that had existed since its inception. In 2010‑2018, the European Union focused essentially on four basic forms of crisis management in the Eurozone: financial support for indebted economies, aid programs for crisis‑stricken countries, measures by the European Central Bank to overcome the crisis and system reform of the Eurozone and the Economic and Monetary Union. The research objective of the article is to analyze the dynamics of the debt crisis in the Eurozone. The author would like to answer the following research questions: How much have the aid programs of the European Union and the International Monetary Fund contributed to overcoming the debt crisis? Has this crisis really been overcome? How deep were the structural reforms of the indebted economies? The author also defines the research hypothesis that the debt crisis in the Eurozone has not been finally overcome, since in many countries government debt is still on a high level.

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