Public Finances Today: Lessons Learned and Challenges Ahead

The volume collects the essays presented at the 16th Workshop on Public Finance organised by Banca d�Italia in Perugia from 3 to 5 April 2014. The workshop had two main objectives: (i) examining the changes that public policies should undertake in the coming years to adapt to the challenging new environment; (ii) assessing policy responses to the crisis. In many countries the recent crisis accelerated pre-existing trends and made even more urgent a rethinking of the tax and welfare systems. The workshop contributed to this reassessment offering insights on the consequences of specific reforms carried out in Europe and elsewhere. The reaction to the euro-area sovereign debt crisis included fiscal adjustments as well as institutional reforms. In the workshop, theoretical and empirical works examined timing, effectiveness and composition of the fiscal consolidations carried out, as well as the recent reform of EU governance. The first session focused on the effects of both tax and expenditure policies on tax rates, work related tax expenditures, labor markets, the overall economy and pension reforms. Budgetary adjustments were at the core of the second session. Factors conducive to a successful exit from IMF official assistance, impact of government�s payment delays, propagation of government spending shocks, debt dynamics, the effects on public opinion of fiscal policy and fiscal multipliers were all given space and attention. The third session concentrated on recent changes in fiscal rules, fiscal councils and the possible establishment of an euro-area fiscal union. The panel discussion focused on the progress made and the characteristics of existing fiscal rules.