, Columnist
The EU Should Ditch Its Fiscal Rules and Try This
All sorts of financial rules are becoming too rigid and complex for the real world. There’s a better way to regulate.
Europe’s finance ministers need something a little different.
Photographer: Hayoung Jeon — Pool/Getty Images Europe
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If you thought the European Union’s bickering about fiscal policy was bad in recent decades, get ready for an epic squabble once this pandemic is over.
Owing to the coronavirus, the EU’s rules on debts and deficits have been suspended and most member states have vastly overshot their normal limits. But at some point next year we’ll have to talk about how fast to apply the rules again. Given the extraordinary macroeconomic situation, it’ll be tempting to tweak them — for the umpteenth time.