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The Trade-off Unemployment Rate/External Deficit: Assessing the Economic Adjustment Program of the Troika (European Commission, ECB and IMF) for Portugal using an Input-Output Approach

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  • João Ferreira do Amaral
  • João Carlos Lopes

Abstract

This article presents an evaluation of the economic adjustment program negotiated between the Portuguese government and the Troika (European Commission, ECB and IMF) in May 2011, with an assessment different from the usual exercises. Instead of an ex-post comparison between the actual results and the proposed targets, an ex-ante assessment of the forecast errors is made. It is shown that these errors could be avoided if the productive (input-output) structure of the economy and the unemployment/external deficit trade-off were taken into account. The main conclusion of this assessment, a large under-estimation of the unemployment rate of about 4 percentage points, illustrates the technical incompetence of this adjustment program and the huge economic and social costs it unnecessarily caused. The methodology used can easily be replicated in assessing other similar programs, such those applied in Greece, Ireland and Cyprus.

Suggested Citation

  • João Ferreira do Amaral & João Carlos Lopes, 2015. "The Trade-off Unemployment Rate/External Deficit: Assessing the Economic Adjustment Program of the Troika (European Commission, ECB and IMF) for Portugal using an Input-Output Approach," Working Papers Department of Economics 2015/04, ISEG - Lisbon School of Economics and Management, Department of Economics, Universidade de Lisboa.
    • Handle: RePEc:ise:isegwp:wp042015
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Cited by:

    1. João Ferreira do Amaral & João Carlos Lopes, 2016. "Self-Defeating Austerity? Assessing the Impact of Fiscal Consolidations on Unemployment," Working Papers Department of Economics 2016/13, ISEG - Lisbon School of Economics and Management, Department of Economics, Universidade de Lisboa.
    2. João Carlos Lopes & João Ferreira do Amaral, 2017. "Self-defeating austerity? Assessing the impact of a fiscal consolidation on unemployment," The Economic and Labour Relations Review, , vol. 28(1), pages 77-90, March.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Unemployment; External deficit; Input-output analysis; Economic adjustment program; Troika; Portugal;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • E61 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Macroeconomic Policy, Macroeconomic Aspects of Public Finance, and General Outlook - - - Policy Objectives; Policy Designs and Consistency; Policy Coordination
    • C67 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Mathematical Methods; Programming Models; Mathematical and Simulation Modeling - - - Input-Output Models
    • D57 - Microeconomics - - General Equilibrium and Disequilibrium - - - Input-Output Tables and Analysis

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