Ireland’s 2010 EU/IMF intervention: Costs and benefits

This paper examines the costs and benefits of the EU/IMF rescue package for Ireland, on November 29, 2010. We analyze the costs of the intervention and the subsequent increase in value of debt and/or equity issued by Irish banks, the Irish government, and European banks with substantial holdings of Irish debt. The total initial value increase around the announcement amounts to €5.59bln at a realized taxpayers’ cost of €4.23bln. While the value increase depends on somewhat generous assumptions, it further increases by €2.8bln up to Ireland’s exit in December 2013. About €3.1bln of the value created indirectly supports the European banking sector, indicating that substantial benefits arise from systemic risk containment.     

Innovation as recovery strategy for SMEs in emerging economies during the COVID-19 pandemic

The quarantine and disruption of non-essential activities as measure to contain the COVID-19 pandemic has negatively affected all economies around the World. This has had a deeper impact on small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in emerging economies because they have very limited resources and vulnerable supply chain and business-to-business/business-to-clients relationships. In this context, it is expected that after the pandemic many of these enterprises will disappear as the “new normality” will require changes in business and infrastructure management. To reduce this risk, innovation is identified as a key aspect of business recovery in the ongoing and post-COVID-19 pandemic period. This work presents a multidisciplinary methodological approach to guide these enterprises to innovate their products for new markets and making a better use of their limited available resources. As an example of this approach, the research-supported development of a new product for a family-owned SME was performed in a zone with high COVID-19 risk. The results provide insight regarding innovation as a survival tool for SMEs during and after the COVID-19 contingency, and the use of digital resources is identified as the main facilitator for networking and research-based design of innovative products within the “social distance” context.     

Extracting shadow exchange rates and foreign exchange premia during currency crises: an example from Egypt

We utilize high-frequency data and a novel synchronous trade-matching algorithm to show that shadow exchange rates could be estimated from price spreads between depositary receipts and their underlying local stocks using an example of the recent Egyptian currency crisis. These shadow rates reflect the local black market foreign exchange rates in addition to a foreign exchange premium, which we attribute to the cost of expatriating capital during currency and capital control periods.     

‘Ruins of Modernity’: The Critical Implications of Unfinished Public Works in Italy

Since the 1950s, the construction of public works has been a significant element of Italy's focus on modernization. Numerous instances of malpractice have resulted in frequent failures of this form of development, with the result that many projects have remained unfinished for decades. In 2007, a group of artists called Alterazioni Video declared these ‘ruins of modernity’ to be a romanticized architectural style; in doing so, their aim is to imbue the sites with new value and dignity. This article uses the artists’ argument as a point of departure to theorize about unfinished public works within the framework of interdisciplinary literatures on modern ruins. In addition, since modern ruins by definition hold a critical meaning––which the artists deliberately excluded from their narrative––the article takes into account the obscure political and economic circumstances causing this phenomenon. After remarking upon specificities and similarities to unfinished neoliberal topographies generated by the 2008 financial crisis, it is concluded that unfinished public works in Italy represent an interesting case serving to enrich debates on incompletion.     

The performance of banks in the MENA region during the global financial crisis

This paper examines the impact of the global financial crisis on the banking sector in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region, as well as the main determinants of the profitability of both domestic and foreign banks. The empirical findings suggest that during the crisis the former outperformed the latter in that region. As for the determinants of profitability, size does not appear to play a role, whilst the liquidity ratio and net interest revenues seem to have a negative and positive effect respectively; GDP has a positive effect in the case of domestic banks.     

Architecture of Supra-Governmental International Financial Regulation

Supra-governmental regulatory institutions (SNRs) resemble bridges that span gaps in the jurisdiction of individual–country regulators. The most important bridges address cross-country problems of crisis management and development finance not just as forums but as portfolio lenders as well.At portfolio SNRs, traditional cash-flow accounting supports incentives to overlend to countries undergoing crisis and to direct insufficient development funds to the world's neediest countries. Better performance requires not so much a structural streamlining of SNR missions as a realignment of the bureaucratic incentive systems under which SNR managers function. To accomplish this, reformers must focus on identifying economically meaningful indexes of SNR achievement and experimenting with programs that link deferred managerial compensation at SNRs to sustained long-period movements in the selected indexes.     

The Recent Critique of Theoretical Economics: A Methodologically Informed Investigation

My purpose is to appraise the recent critique of theoretical economics by applying the methodological perspective. Therefore, I start by identifying the main lines of criticism raised against theoretical economics in the aftermath of the post-2008 global economic crisis: namely, the voices criticizing economics for its unrealistic models, excessive mathematization, and overconfidence in its theoretical claims. First, I show that these issues are interconnected and should be jointly analyzed. Next, I investigate these lines of critique from the perspective provided by the latest achievements in the philosophy of economics (e.g., studies on the epistemic role of economic models). Taking this perspective reinforces some allegations against economics (e.g., these voices accusing economists of treating economic laws as universal laws of nature) and makes some criticisms more nuanced (e.g., the issue of unrealistic assumptions). I conclude by stating that such a methodological perspective is necessary in critically apprising the recent critique of economics.     

The real effects of financial (dis)integration: A multi-country equilibrium analysis of Europe

Using data from 15 European Union economies, we quantify the real effects of supply-side frictions due to the financial disintegration of European countries since the 2008 financial crisis. We develop a multi-country general equilibrium model with heterogeneous countries and destination-specific financial frictions. Financial institutions allocate capital endogenously across countries, determining the cost of capital to firms and the wealth of nations. The cost of financial disintegration is reduced access to capital for firms which results in lower output. Financial disintegration leads to a 0.54% fall in output in Europe since the crisis. We also estimate benefits of further financial integration.     

透视后危机背景下的中美贸易摩擦

在后危机时代的贸易摩擦中,中美贸易摩擦有愈演愈烈之势,美国视中国为贸易保护措施的最大目标,中国对美贸易形势日益严峻。中美贸易摩擦升温是由美国内在政治、经济结构调整需求所决定的。     

对校园公共安全危机管理的战略思考

校园安全管理是公共安全危机管理的一项重要内容，但由于种种原因，我国目前在校园安全管理方面存在一定的弊端。校园公共安全危机的应对管理程序应该包括预控准备、预防监测、应对处理、恢复善后和总结评估5个环节。