National Institute Economic Review 

About: National Institute Economic Review is an academic journal published by SAGE Publishing. The journal publishes majorly in the area(s): Productivity & Fiscal policy. It has an ISSN identifier of 0027-9501. Over the lifetime, 1066 publications have been published receiving 18325 citations.

Fiscal Policy: Institutions versus Rules

Abstract: Fiscal discipline is as much needed as monetary discipline. Many countries have attempted to counter the deficit bias by adopting fiscal rules that typically set a limit to their annual budget deficits. The record is not satisfactory; rules are either too lax or too tight and then ignored. This article suggests that the solution is to adopt the approach followed by inflation targeting central banks, with great success. Independent and accountable Fiscal Policy Committees, given the task of achieving debt targets and the authority to decide - or recommend - annual deficits, will be free from the deficit bias. This will allow them to exercise discretion in the short run while delivering debt sustainability in the long run.

The Causes of British Unemployment

Abstract: Unemployment in Britain has risen from around 2 per cent in the late 1950s and early 1960s to around 3 per cent today. What accounts for this astonishing increase?

Cross-country empirical studies of systemic bank distress : a survey

Abstract: A rapidly growing empirical literature is studying the causes and consequences of bank fragility in contemporary economies. The authors reviews the two basic methodologies adopted in cross-country empirical studies-the signals approach and the multivariate probability model-and their application to study the determinants of banking crises. The use of these models to provide early warnings for crises is also reviewed, as are studies of the economic effects of banking crises and of the policies to forestall them. The paper concludes by identifying directions for future research.

Commentary: The Stern Review's Economics of Climate Change:

Abstract: When economists analyse public policy, they take two sets of considerations into account. First, they identify the ways in which the world might work (the ways in which people would choose under various circumstances, the pathways Nature chooses, and so on). Once that task is done, they are able to chart the consequences (perhaps long-term consequences) of alternative policies. Secondly, they value those consequences so as to be able to judge the relative desirabilities of the alternative policies. The former set of exercises involves description, while the latter involves evaluation. Disagreements over the desirability of alternative public policies arise when people don't agree on facts (e.g., the economic effects of a doubling of carbon concentration in the atmosphere) or when they don't agree on values (e.g., the way our well-being ought to be balanced against the well-being of all those future thems). Usually, of course, both facts and values are subject to dispute.

How Well Can We Measure Graduate Over- Education and Its Effects?:

Abstract: Using data from two cohorts of graduates, this article examines three aspects of over-education. First, using three new measures, we present an estimate of graduate over-education in the UK. We fin...