This post was prepared by Geghetsik Afunts, a second year PhD student at CERGE-EI.

Do governments need a “Personal Trainer or Watchdog” to achieve objectives such as long-term sustainability of public finances, economic growth or surplus targets? Fiscal watchdogs have existed for a long time in some countries and one of the first European countries was Sweden. But the Chairman of the Swedish Fiscal Policy Council John Hassler says that in practice such institutions are considered more as personal trainers than watchdogs. Continue reading Fiscal Policy Council: Personal Trainer or Watchdog? →