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In RealTime posts, PIIE senior staff and colleagues discuss the fast-moving economic news, financial developments, and public policy choices confronting the United States and the world.
Latvia carried out truly remarkable parliamentary elections on October 2, showing that populism is no longer popular. Despite an output fall of 25 percent in the last three years and unemployment of 20 percent, the voters reelected the incumbent center-right minority government, increasing its share of the 100 seats in the parliament from 45 in [...]
This week, the eurozone’s “new normal” played out as a textbook example of how short-term market concerns can have a constructive impact on Europe’s long-term economic future. Under increasing political and economic pressure from rising bond market spreads, the Irish and Portuguese governments finally “did the right thing” and took productive policy actions. The eurozone’s [...]