The EEAG Report on the European Economy 2008

This edition marks the seventh annual report of the European Economic Advisory Group (EEAG) at CESifo. This year, the report focuses on the chances and challenges of globalisation. After providing a somewhat clouded business forecast for Europe and the world, the report discusses, among other things, the impact of globalisation on the European labour markets, public policies against global warming and the role of industrial policy in globalised goods markets. Non-partisan as the Group is, it can offer fresh and unconventional views for policymakers that are nevertheless all firmly based on sound economic reasoning. The EEAG, which is in toto responsible for this report, consists of a team of seven economists from seven European countries. This year, the Group is again chaired by Lars Calmfors (Institute for International Economic Studies, Stockholm University) and includes Gilles Saint-Paul (University of Toulouse, vice chairman), Giancarlo Corsetti (European University Institute, Florence), Michael Devereux (University of Oxford), Jan-Egbert Sturm (KOF Swiss Economic Institute, ETH Zurich), Xavier Vives (IESE Business School) and myself. The members of the Group as a whole are responsible for all chapters. They all participate on a personal basis and do not represent the views of the organisations they are affiliated with