A Discussion on Fiscal Policies Implemented in EU During and After the Great Recession

Abstract

Along with the global financial crisis that took place in 2008, the ineffectiveness of other policies used for exiting from the crisis has brought back the feasibility of fiscal policy as an alternative. It is accepted that the only way to overcome the severe shrinking of the total demand during the 2008 global financial crisis is expansionary fiscal policy applied globally. However, differences in the subjective conditions of the EU member countries in particular have not made it possible to implement an expansionary fiscal policy for all of the member countries. More developed EU countries have begun to carry out from expansionary fiscal policies, while the less developed ones have begun to conduct contractionary fiscal policies. With the awareness that the financial stability is a public good, the obstacles, challenges on the global fiscal policy implementation by the EU member states are discussed by examining fiscal policies performed during and after the 2008 global financial crisis.