This Joint IMF-OECD workshop is on topics around “Instruments of Fiscal Consolidation”, covering issues such as fiscal consolidation and growth, the impact of fiscal consolidation on income distribution, the institutional foundations of fiscal discipline (fiscal rules, fiscal councils and fiscal transparency) and top-down budgeting and fiscal space.

Programme

11 December 2012

 SESSION 1: 14h00-15h45: FISCAL CONSOLIDATION AND ECONOMIC GROWTH

1. A Modern History of Fiscal Prudence and Profligacy, by Ari Binder, Paolo Mauro, Rafael Romeu and Asad Zaman

2. Post-crisis debt overhang: Growth implications across countries, by Jørgen Elmeskov and Douglas Sutherland

3. Fiscal Multipliers and the State of the Economy, by Anja Baum, Anke Weber and Marcos Poplawski-Ribeiro

4. Tax Composition and Growth: a Broad Cross-Country Perspective, by Santiago Acosta-Ormaechea and Jiae Yoo

Commentators: Ray Barrell (Professor of Economics, Brunel University), Agnès Benassy-Quéré (Director, CEPII), Stephen Matthews (OECD Chief Tax Economist)

Chair: Carlo Cottarelli (IMF, Director of the Fiscal Affairs Department)

SESSION 2: 16h15-18h00: FISCAL CONSOLIDATION, EMPLOYMENT AND THE INCOME DISTRIBUTION

1. Fiscal Policy and Employment in Advanced and Emerging Economies, IMF Board Paper prepared by a team from the Fiscal Affairs Department, presented by Gerd Schwartz

2. Income Inequality and Fiscal Policy, by Francesca Bastagli, David Coady and Sanjeev Gupta

3. The Equity Implications of Fiscal Consolidation, by Eckhard Wurzel, Lukasz Rawdanowicz and Ane-Kathrine Christensen

4. The Redistributive Impact of Taxes and Transfers: Differences in Approaches Across OECD Countries, by Isabelle Joumard, Mauro Pisu and Debbie Bloch

Commentators: Horacio Levy (OECD Social Policy Analyst, inequality), Stephen Matthews (Chief Tax Economist)

Chair: Jørgen Elmeskov (Deputy Chief Economist, OECD)

12 December 2012

SESSION 3: 8h30 – 10h45: INSTITUTIONAL FOUNDATIONS OF FISCAL DISCIPLINE

SESSION 3a: 8h30 – 09h30: FISCAL INSTITUTIONS AT NATIONAL LEVEL

1. Institutional Reforms and the Crisis: Fiscal Councils and Fiscal Rules, by Xavier Debrun, Andrea Schaechter and teams from the Fiscal Affairs Department, presented by Martine Guerguil

2. The Case for Fiscal Councils: An ex-post view from Irish Experience, by Sebastian Barnes

Commentator: George Kopits (Senior Scholar, Woodrow Wilson Center)

Chair: Rolf Alter (OECD, Director for Public Governance and Territorial Development)

SESSION 3b: 9h30 – 10h45: SUB-NATIONAL PUBLIC FINANCES

3. Too Small to Fail? Subnational Spending in Times of Crisis by Luc Eyraud and Marialuz Moreno

4. Fiscal Consolidation and Fiscal Rules at the Sub-Central Government Level by Hansjörg Blöchliger and Kaja Fredriksen

5. Passing the Buck? Central and Sub-National Governments in Times of Fiscal Stress by Rudiger Ahrend, Marta Curto and Camila Vammalle

Commentator: Teresa Ter-Minassian (formerly at IMF, Director of the Fiscal Affairs Department)

Chair: Rolf Alter

SESSION 4: 11h15 – 13h00: FISCAL TRANSPARENCY AND EXPENDITURE MANAGEMENT

1. Fiscal Transparency, Accountability, and Risk, IMF Board Paper prepared by a team from the Fiscal Affairs Department, presented by Richard Hughes

2. Budgeting for Fiscal Space and Government Performance beyond the Great Recession, by Mario Marcel

3. Restoring Public Finances, by Jon Blondal and Knut Klepsvik

4. Health Expenditure Projections, by Christine de la Maisonneuve, Joaquim Oliveira Martins and Giuseppe Nicoletti

Commentator: Robert Chote (Chairman, UK Office for Budget Responsibility)

Chair: Pier Carlo Padoan (OECD Deputy Secretary-General and Chief Economist)

SESSION 5: 14h00 – 15h45: DEBT DYNAMICS AND SUSTAINABILITY

1. The Challenge of Debt Reduction during Fiscal Consolidations, by Luc Eyraud and Anke Weber

2. Avoiding Debt Traps: Financial Backstops and Structural Reforms, by Pier Carlo Padoan, Urban Sila and Paul van den Noord

3. Explaining the Interest-Rate-Growth Differential Underlying Government Debt Dynamics; by David Turner and Francesca Spinelli

Commentators: Ludger Schuknecht (Director General, Federal Ministry of Finance, Germany), Adrian Blundell-Wignall (OECD Special Advisor to the Secretary-General on Financial Markets), Bernd Lucke (Professor of Economics, Hamburg University, currently seconded to the OECD Economics Department)

Chair: Gerd Schwartz (IMF, Deputy Director of the Fiscal Affairs Department)

SESSION 6: 16h15 – 17h30: ROUNDTABLE DISCUSSION

Chair: Ray Barrell

Background information

OECD Economics Department Working Papers:

992. Choosing the pace of fiscal consolidation, by Łukasz Rawdanowicz

972. Europe's new fiscal rules, by Sebastian Barnes, David Davidsson and Łukasz Rawdanowicz

937. Fiscal consolidation: Part 6. What are the best policy instruments for fiscal consolidation?, by Robert P. Hagemann

936. Fiscal consolidation: Part 5. What factors determine the success of consolidation efforts?, by Margit Molnar

935. Fiscal consolidation: Part 4. Case studies of large fiscal consolidation episodes, by Hansjörg Blöchliger, Dae-Ho Song and Douglas Sutherland

934. Fiscal consolidation: Part 3. Long-run projections and fiscal gap calculations, by Rossana Merola and Douglas Sutherland

933. Fiscal consolidation: Part 2. Fiscal multipliers and fiscal consolidations, by Ray Barrell, Dawn Holland and Ian Hurst

932. Fiscal consolidation: Part 1. How much is needed and how to reduce debt to a prudent level?, by Douglas Sutherland, Peter Hoeller and Rossana Merola

926. Less income inequality and more growth – are they compatible? Part 3. Income redistribution via taxes and transfers across OECD countries, by Isabelle Joumard, Mauro Pisu and Debbie Bloch