ИПИ Библиотека

Once again, IREF's yearbook on taxation confirms that in Europe, including within the European Union, fiscal policies are far from homogeneous. One obvious reason for this is that countries are not confronted with similar situations. While some, such as the Netherlands, Norway, Slovakia, Luxembourg, Germany, Sweden or Switzerland, are close to a balanced budget, others are more or less - and sometimes badly - in need for fiscal consolidation. The latter group of countries—those that must urgently reduce public deficit and public debt, forms a large majority.

"In an unprecedented and historical move, the European Union forced the Irish government against its stated wishes to indebt itself in an € 85 billion international bailout comprising of the IMF, EU and bilateral loans. This bailout to ensure that the Irish government would continue to pay 100% of face value on maturing senior bonds in zombie banks will have increased government debt by over 40% of GDP by the time the bailout is completed in 2015. Despite such catastrophic economic conditions, the Irish economy is showing signs of recovery. In 2011, Ireland generated a record high annual trade surplus of just under € 44.7 billion, up by 3% on 2010. Regarding public finances, the 2011 budget saw a closing of the deficit by a further €6 billion. Budget adjustment over the period 2011-2014 is realized for two thirds through expenditure reductions and one third should be raised by taxation. It has been called the most “draconian” budget in the history of the state."

Pierre Garello

Pierre Garello is currently Professor of Economics at the University Paul Cézanne Aix-Marseille. He received his Bachelor education from that same university and received his PhD from New York University.  He taught at the Universities of Montepellier and Saint Etienne, France and was invited to lecture in Warsaw, Sofia, Bucharest, Vilnius, Jena, Guatemala City, Washington, Roma, Vienna and Haifa.  He is Director of Academic Affairs for the Institute of Economic Studies-Europe and Director of Research for IREF.  He is editor of the “Journal des Economistes et des Etudes Humaines”. Besides taxation and public finance (he is editor of the Yearbook of Taxation in Europe), his field of specialization includes Decision Theory and Law and Economics.  He is director of the Law and Economics Erasmus Mundus Master Program at The University Paul-Cézanne.  His recent publications include: “Is there a Third way?: The cognitive requirement for the implementation of a third way” (2003), “The Breach of Contract in French Law: between safety-of-expectations and efficiency” (2003),“The dynamics of fiscal federalism” (2003), “A special issue on Fiscal systems in of Journal des Economistes et des Etudes Humaines”, (Vol.13, No. 4.), “Insider Trading and Takeovers: How efficient is the regulation?” (2004), “Peut-on éradiquer la corruption?” (2005),“Looking, without success, for a good reason not to worry about Public Debt” (2006), “The Road to efficient taxation in China” (2006),“Removing some obstacles to a better understanding of the trade-growth relationship: How can we deal with the race-to-the bottom argument?” (2006), “Feasibility of a Free Trade Agreement between Georgia and the European Union” (2007), “Reflections on the Nature of Competition Law” (2008), “Hayek’s challenges are worth pursuing” (2009), “The notion of damages to the economy in French Law” (2009), “Taxation in Europe 2010” (2010), “A study on counterfeiting and piracy in Georgia”(2010), ‘“Flat tax”, “Profit”, “Unintended Consequences”, entries for the Dictionnaire du libéralisme’ (2010).