Over-optimistic Official Forecasts and Fiscal Rules in the Eurozone

Over-optimistic Official Forecasts and Fiscal Rules in the Eurozone. Jeffrey Frankel, December 19, 2013, Paper. "Eurozone members are supposedly constrained by the fiscal caps of the Stability and Growth Pact. Yet ever since the birth of the euro, members have postponed painful adjustment. Wishful thinking has played an important role in this failure. We find that governments' forecasts are biased in the optimistic direction, especially during booms. Eurozone governments are especially over-optimistic when the budget deficit is over the 3% cap at the time the forecasts are made. Those exceeding this cap..."