Do Sound Public Finances Require Fiscal Rules Or Is Market Pressure Enough?

Ulf Michael Bergman, Michael Hutchison, Svend E. Hougaard Jensen

Research output: Working paperCommissioned

Abstract

This paper discusses the balance between market pressure and fiscal rules in order to keep public finances on a sustainable path. We provide empirical evidence on market assessments of sovereign default risk to economic news, announcements of national austerity programs, EU programs designed to support government finances, and banking fragility emanating from several countries in the euro area affected by the European
sovereign debt crisis. We find that, in general, the quality of market signals is an insufficient indicator alone to accurately guide the conduct of fiscal policy, particularly during the crisis period. Therefore, market signals should be used to complement fiscal rules rather than serving as a substitute.
Original languageEnglish
PublisherThe European Commission
Number of pages58
ISBN (Print)9789279285714
Publication statusPublished - 2013
SeriesEconomic Papers
Number489

Bibliographical note

JEL codes: E62, F36, F44, G14, H63

Keywords

  • Faculty of Social Sciences
  • Euro area
  • transmission of news
  • financial markets
  • fiscal rules
  • sovereign debt

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