European Stabilisation Policy After the COVID-19 Pandemic: More Flexible Integration or More Federalism?

Crises are a major driving force behind cooperation in the European Union. During severe crises, cooperation has been enlarged and intensified. The Ukrainian war and the covid-19 pandemic are two examples of this pattern, not least when it comes to the conduct of stabilization policies in the EU. In this chapter, we discuss the implications for the EU of a move towards increased fiscal federalism. First, the role of crises as a driver of political change is analysed. Next, we examine in greater detail, the effect of crises on the design of stabilisation policies in the EU since the introduction of the euro, the common currency. Finally, we discuss the significance of the recent pandemic-induced steps towards increased federalism for the EU. We raise the question as to whether this is a desirable path for the future of European cooperation. © The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2023.

The perils of boarding: A call to achieve parity in the delivery of acute psychiatric services for children with COVID-19.

Boarding across pediatric healthcare systems is on the rise during the pandemic. Children with positive COVID-19 test results awaiting psychiatric placements in the emergency department or medical unit settings are at increased risk for decompensation with unmet psychiatric needs during a time of crisis marked by vulnerability. There is scant literature unveiling best practices on delivery of care for these patients to achieve acute crisis stabilization. Recent studies have uncovered substantial increases in mental health disorders among children during the pandemic compared to previous incidence and prevalence rates prior to the pandemic. From the published literature, two healthcare systems have initiated long-term planning, development, and implementation of biodome psychiatric units for patients with COVID-19 in need of acute crisis stabilization services. We sampled 100 acute inpatient child and adolescent psychiatric programs to discern their post-COVID positive clearance policies for admission. Findings were mixed among days of quarantine required, symptomology, covid-designated spaces vs. self-isolated rooms for psychiatric treatment, number of COVID negative retests, and additional considerations. We also review a range of considerations and recommendations for clinical practice and the health system in achieving parity in mental health care for these patients which in turn could contribute towards mitigating the rising global mental health crisis. Furthermore, increasing access to acute psychiatric services for these patients will also contribute towards the larger goal of the World Health Organization, Sustainable Developmental Goals of the United Nations, and Healthy People 2030 in increasing accessibility, quality and equity of mental health care for individuals on both global and national frontiers.

Effects of intergovernmental revenue on local government draw on fiscal reserves: evidence from COVID-19 fiscal stress

This study investigates the effects of receipt and anticipation of intergovernmental revenues on local governments draw on accumulated fiscal reserves to cushion the impacts of COVID-19-related fiscal stress. Several studies have been conducted on determinants of fiscal reserves accumulation. However, little is known about the determinants of government draw on fiscal reserves, beyond revenue shortfall, in times of fiscal stress. Dwelling on the premise that government's draw on fiscal reserves is influenced by factors beyond revenue shortfall and controlling for the effects of revenue shortfalls and other factors, we analysed local government survey data to determine the effects of intergovernmental revenue on government draw on fiscal reserves. Results show that draw on fiscal reserves is significantly constrained by percent of FY 2020 revenue received from federal and state governments, but significantly and positively inluenced by revenue losses and percent of FY 2021 revenue anticipated from federal government.

Retail trader pricing behavior in the traditional rice market: A micro view for curbing inflation

The price of rice at the retail level affects consumer welfare and influences inflation. The research objective was to study rice retail trader pricing behavior in traditional markets. This study employed an econometric model consisting of six equations of price spread between the retail market level and wholesale level of different rice qualities and grades. To overcome endogeneity problems due to the use of several equations that could cause potential bias, the simultaneous method with the 3SLS approach was deemed appropriate to use to obtain consistent and efficient coefficient estimates. The results show that, by examining the behavior of price spreads in the model, it can be deduced that rice retailers in the traditional market applied a price stabilization strategy. A lower price spread responded to an increase in price at the wholesale level. Rice retailers in traditional markets also implemented a price-averaging strategy. The results of this study have important policy implications for reducing food price volatility and its impact on inflation. That is, a price policy aimed at price stabilization at the retail level, as in this study, will be more effective if the price stabilization is focused on the wholesale level. However, if the pricing policy continues to be applied at the retail level, it must consider the relationships between different rice qualities and prices. This study also highlights the need for more intensive research on pricing behavior at the wholesale level.

Do the macro and global economic factors drive the nonperforming loans in GCC economies?

PurposeThe current study aims to investigate the determinants of nonperforming loans (NPLs) in the GCC economies during the period spanning 2000 to 2018. It also examines whether the worldwide financial crisis of 2007–2008, which brought the issue of non–performing loans to the greater attention of academics and policymakers, had a substantial impact on NPLs in this region.Design/methodology/approachThe sample consists of 53 conventional banks from GCC countries, and the basic data for the study is obtained from various sources such as Bankscope, IMF World Economic Outlook, World Bank and Chicago Board of Options Exchange Market Volatility Index. The estimations were done by dynamic panel data regression modeling using system generalized methods of moments.FindingsThe findings reveal that both, the non-oil real GDP growth rate and inflation have favorable effects on NPLs. On the other hand, domestic credit to the private sector and the volatility index have an adverse effect on NPLs. Furthermore, the period-wise analysis shows that the relevance and significance of the determinants of NPLs vary between the precrisis and postcrisis periods. It is also reflected through the intercept dummy, which is found to be significant, indicating that the financial crisis, as a global economic factor, had a significant impact on NPLs. A number of robustness tests are applied, which indicate that the results are mostly robust and consistent in terms of the significance of the explanatory variables and the direction of their relationship with the dependent variable.Practical implicationsPolicymakers and bank authorities must strive to maintain a healthy economy and implement macroprudential policies to improve the financial stability of banks and reduce credit risk.Originality/valueTo the best of the authors' knowledge, this is likely the first study that empirically investigates the influence of the financial crisis on NPLs in the context of GCC economies. In addition, the research spans 19 years to produce more conclusive results.

Comparison of the efficiency of core stabilization exercises and abdominal corset in the treatment of postpartum diastasis recti abdominis.

OBJECTIVE: To examine the feasibility of three physiotherapy interventions for the treatment of diastasis recti abdominis (DRA): core stabilization exercises, abdominal corset and a combination of exercise and abdominal corset. STUDY DESIGN: Forty-five women 6 to 12 weeks postpartum who were diagnosed with DRA by a gynecologist/obstetrician were recruited for the study. The women were randomly divided into three groups: core stabilization exercises (1st group), the combination of exercise and abdominal corset (2nd group) and abdominal corset (3rd group). The treatment session for each group continued for 8 weeks. Outcome measurements were pain evaluation, inter-rectus distance (IRD) measured using ultrasound, trunk flexion strength and endurance, balance with open eyes/closed with a balance board, and Oswestry Disability Index (ODI). RESULTS: Statistically significant difference was observed in all outcome measures except the balance eyes closed results in the first group (p < 0.05). There was a statistically significant difference in all outcome measures in the second group (p < 0.05). Also, there was a statistically significant difference in visual analog scale, trunk flexor endurance, IRD results, balance with open eyes and ODI results in the third group (p < 0.05). When the values pre and post-treatment between the groups were examined, a statistically significant change was observed in trunk flexion strength, trunk flexor endurance, and balance with open eyes/closed parameters (p < 0.05). CONCLUSIONS: Physiotherapy interventions as core stabilization exercises and the abdominal corset can positively impact IRD, trunk flexion muscle strength and endurance, balance and disability in DRA management. The combination of exercise and corset was found more effective in the postpartum process.

Fiscal Stabilization in the United States: Lessons for Monetary Unions

The debate about the use of fiscal instruments for macroeconomic stabilization has regained prominence in the aftermath of the Great Recession, and its relevance has suddenly increased further, after the recent Covid-19 shock. The analysis of fiscal stabilization in the United States, a monetary union equipped with a common fiscal capacity, has often informed the literature on the European EMU and could serve as a reference for its possible future reforms. This paper expands that literature in three ways: first, by measuring stabilization not only as inter-state risk-sharing of asymmetric shocks, but also as intertemporal stabilization of common shocks;second, by doing this for specific items in the US federal budget, both on the revenue and on the expenditure side;and third, by also measuring the impact of the federal system of unemployment benefits and of its extension as a response to the Great Recession. Corporate and personal income tax, on the revenue side, and social security benefits and federal grants, on the spending side, are the most effective items. The US federal system of unemployment insurance provides great stabilization in the event of a large shock, in particular when enhanced by the discretionary program of extended benefits. These findings imply that a proper design of the budget can maximize its stabilization effect, when it helps bridging the gap between higher mobility of capital and lower mobility of labor, by collecting revenues based on the income of the most mobile factor (corporate income tax) and providing support to the income of the least mobile factor (social security).

COVID-19 Impact and Policy Response: A General Equilibrium Approach for Egypt

The economic impacts of COVID-19 were negative across nations but with different degrees depending on the timing, degree of containment measures and the extent of dependency on the world economy. Moreover, the policy response has been heterogeneous across different countries, but mainly addressing urgent and short-term problems without addressing the structural problems that led to the vulnerability of these countries in crisis times. Thus, the objective of this paper is threefold. First, it distinguishes between the supply and demand effects of COVID-19. Second, we examine the key differences between the short and long terms effects of the policies that were adopted. Finally, we modify the model to include the informal labor that was highly affected by the pandemic, and we relax the assumption of perfect competition and replicate the simulations under an imperfect competitive framework in order to see how reforms pertaining to competition policies can alter the adopted policies. To do so, we use a dynamic CGE model calibrated on the Egyptian Social Accounting Matrix of 2014/2015. Our findings show how the Egyptian economy has been relatively vulnerable to external shocks that affect its sources of foreign currency. Yet, most of the effects are temporary and vanish in the long run. Imperfect competition in commodity markets would increase the adverse effects of the pandemic and undermine the effectiveness of public policies.

Investigating the impact of monetary policy on foreign exchange market in Europe during COVID-19 pandemic

In this paper, we investigated how policy rate modifications – the main instrument used by central banks to provide liquidity during the current health crisis – influenced the evolution of the exchange rate, which is a key element within macro-stabilization policies. We documented that foreign exchange markets in European countries responded asymmetrically to monetary policy interventions devoted to the encouragement of spending and the stimulation of the economy. However, this only occurred during extreme events, which is a side-effect of the monetary policy on the foreign exchange market. These results contribute to the assessment of the space for manoeuvres by monetary policymakers regarding key policy rate modifications as a response to pandemic shocks.

Leadership in European crisis politics: France, Germany, and the difficult quest for regional stabilization and integration

Over the past decade, the European Union (EU) has faced a number of severe crises threatening its core policy regimes and the future of its polity. Potentially existential crises, such as the Eurozone, migration, and Covid-19 crises, require political leaders who are able and willing to give orientation and provide stability. This article argues that France and Germany, as the Union's two largest member states, have been key for EU stabilization and (further) integration, especially in times of crisis. Thanks to their ‘embedded bilateralism', France and Germany have available important resources that other member states and the EU's supranational institutions are lacking. Yet, the emergence of Franco-German leadership and its impact on EU stabilization and integration depend on the demand for leadership, reflecting the status quo costs across the EU and the supply of leadership as the result of relevant Franco-German capacities. Demand and supply factors explain the varying record of Franco-German leadership and stabilization in the three EU crises under consideration. © 2023 Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group.

Stabilization of SARS-CoV-2 RNA in wastewater via rapid RNA extraction.

Wastewater-based Epidemiology (WBE) has contributed to surveillance of SARS-CoV-2 in communities across the world. Both symptomatic and asymptomatic patients with COVID-19 can shed the virus through the gastrointestinal tract, enabling the quantification of the virus in stool and ultimately in wastewater (WW). Unfortunately, instability of SARS-CoV-2 RNA in wastewater limits the utility of WBE programs, particularly in remote/rural regions where reliable cold storage and/or rapid shipping may be unavailable. This study examined whether rapid SARS-CoV-2 RNA extraction on the day of sample collection could minimize degradation. Importantly, the extraction technology used in these experiments, termed exclusion-based sample preparation (ESP), is lightweight, portable, and electricity-free, making it suitable for implementation in remote settings. We demonstrated that immediate RNA extraction followed by ambient storage significantly increased the RNA half-life compared to raw wastewater samples stored at both 4 °C or ambient temperature. Given that RNA degradation negatively impacts both the sensitivity and precision of WBE measurements, efforts must be made to mitigate degradation in order to maximize the potential impact of WBE on public health.

Changing Food Patterns during the Pandemic: Exploring the Role of Household Dynamics and Income Stabilization Strategies

COVID-19 still looms as the largest risk to the agriculture, energy, and health sectors, threatening sustainable global economic development. The literature shows that the COVID-19 pandemic can divert governments' attention away from climate change, renewable energy, and food security challenges that are necessary to address for sustainable economic growth. The COVID-19 pandemic has consistently influenced environmental behaviors, as it has primarily decreased income levels and disrupted food systems worldwide. This study examined the impacts of COVID-19 on food consumption patterns, food diversity, and income challenges and explored the factors affecting food consumption patterns during the pandemic. The data collected through an online survey from 1537 Chinese households were analyzed through a paired t-test, a mixed-design ANOVA, and a logistic regression analysis. The results revealed that the consumption of the majority of individual food commodities decreased during the COVID-19 pandemic. Among the individual food items, the consumption of pork witnessed the greatest decrease during the COVID-19 pandemic compared to the normal period. The decrease in food diversity was higher for the households whose income was affected compared to the households whose income was not affected during the COVID-19 pandemic. Furthermore, the consumption quantities of various food groups declined more for highly income-affected households than for medium and slightly affected households during the pandemic. Households that adopted a dissaving income-stabilizing strategy were 47% points more likely to maintain their food consumption patterns during the pandemic. Farmers were 17% points and 19% points less likely to suffer worsened food consumption compared to self-employed and wage workers, respectively, during the pandemic. Thus, self-production methods such as kitchen gardening can assist households to maintain and improve their consumption of food commodities during the COVID-19 pandemic. © 2022 by the authors.

Stock market response to Covid-19, containment measures and stabilization policies—The case of Europe

Policymakers imposed constraints on public life to contain the Covid-19 pandemic. At the same time, fiscal, monetary and macroprudential policies implemented a large range of expansionary measures to limit the economic consequences of the pandemic and stimulate recovery. In this paper, we assess the response of the equity market as a high-frequency indicator of economic activity to containment and stabilization policies for 29 European economies. We construct indicators of containment and stabilization policies and estimate a range of panel VAR models. The main results are threefold. First, we find that stock markets are highly responsive to containment and stabilization policies. We show that domestic fiscal policy, macroprudential policy as well as monetary policy support the recovery as reflected in the stock market. Second, expansionary fiscal policy conducted at the European level reduces rather raises stock prices. Third, we estimate the model over subsamples and show that the counter-intuitive stock market response to EU policies is driven by the responses in medium- and high-debt countries. These countries' stock markets are also particularly susceptible to monetary policy announcements. © 2022 CEPII (Centre d'Etudes Prospectives et d'Informations Internationales), a center for research and expertise on the world economy

SARS-CoV-2 S Glycoprotein Stabilization Strategies.

The SARS-CoV-2 pandemic has again shown that structural biology plays an important role in understanding biological mechanisms and exploiting structural data for therapeutic interventions. Notably, previous work on SARS-related glycoproteins has paved the way for the rapid structural determination of the SARS-CoV-2 S glycoprotein, which is the main target for neutralizing antibodies. Therefore, all vaccine approaches aimed to employ S as an immunogen to induce neutralizing antibodies. Like all enveloped virus glycoproteins, SARS-CoV-2 S native prefusion trimers are in a metastable conformation, which primes the glycoprotein for the entry process via membrane fusion. S-mediated entry is associated with major conformational changes in S, which can expose many off-target epitopes that deviate vaccination approaches from the major aim of inducing neutralizing antibodies, which mainly target the native prefusion trimer conformation. Here, we review the viral glycoprotein stabilization methods developed prior to SARS-CoV-2, and applied to SARS-CoV-2 S, in order to stabilize S in the prefusion conformation. The importance of structure-based approaches is highlighted by the benefits of employing stabilized S trimers versus non-stabilized S in vaccines with respect to their protective efficacy.

Is european attachment sufficiently strong to support an EU fiscal capacity: Evidence from a conjoint experiment

Based on a conjoint survey experiment with 10,000 respondents from France, Germany, Italy, Netherlands and Spain at the end of March/beginning of April 2020, we explore how individual characteristics shape support among Eurozone citizens for a European Union (EU) budgetary assistance instrument to combat adverse temporary or permanent economic shocks hitting EU Member States. We consider particularly the role of socioeconomic factors, such as income and education, covid fears and European attachment. Remarkably, how covid worries and European attachment affect the support for specific designs of the assistance instrument is not affected by other factors, in particular not by socioeconomic factors. These latter factors play an important role affecting support, independent of European attachment. Programs with European Commission monitoring (and recommendations) and cross-country redistribution, possibly even mandatory towards poor countries, can count on stronger support from those with higher European attachment. Those with strong covid fears are generally more in favour of EU budgetary assistance, mandatory spending of assistance on healthcare and redistribution to poor countries. Programs with Commission monitoring (and recommendations) receive extra support from high-income and highly-educated individuals. Also, the latter group specifically favors potential or mandatory cross-border redistribution. The independent role of individual European attachment suggests that instruments other than socioeconomic policies, e.g. better information provision about its use, may help raise support for an EU assistance instrument. © 2023 The Author(s)

The impact of COVID-19 on adolescents with eating disorders: Increased need for medical stabilization and decreased access to care.

OBJECTIVE: We aimed to identify trends of patients with eating disorders (EDs) requiring hospitalization before and during the pandemic at a children's hospital in the southeastern United States. METHOD: A retrospective chart review was completed for 71 adolescents and young adults (ages 10-21 years; M = 14.61, SD = 2.121). RESULTS: Results indicated a 188% increase in ED hospital admissions since the pandemic, with patients presenting with increased rates of comorbid mental health diagnoses (p = .009). During COVID-19, the development of temporary outpatient multidisciplinary discharge plans (i.e., "bridge plans") were utilized more often due to difficulties accessing the appropriate level of care (p = .039). DISCUSSION: Results suggest a significant increase in youth requiring medical stabilization for EDs since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic (2.9 times more than prepandemic), as well as a need for greater advocacy to increase specialized mental health services along the full continuum of care. PUBLIC SIGNIFICANCE STATEMENT: This study brings awareness to the significant increase in patients needing medical stabilization secondary to restrictive EDs and increased rates of comorbid mental health diagnoses in this patient population since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. Patients during COVID-19 were less likely to directly transition to treatment likely secondary to the strain COVID-19 placed on mental health systems/treatment centers. Increased advocacy for specialized care for eating disorder patients.

Problems of Development of Economic Security in Ukraine: Challenges and Opportunities

The current state of Ukraine's economic security in connection with Russian aggression requires a detailed analysis and research, primarily for several reasons: a more detailed understanding of the socio-economic processes taking place in the middle of the state, and the identification of losses and risks for the global economy of the world. The purpose of the article is to analyze the prospects for stable economic development and economic security in the state under modern Ukrainian realities. In the results, the main threats and challenges that threaten economic security and hypothetical ways of overcoming them are analyzed first of all. In particular, the causes of the negative state of the Ukrainian economic system were established and investigated. We are talking about a long economic crisis, caused both by the military destruction carried out by the Russian regime and by the decrease in business activity due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Important factors were the uncontrolled growth of the budget deficit, which as a result of military actions crossed a critical line, opacity and corruption schemes in the economy, which led to significant financial frauds, illogicality and inconsistency of government reforms. Current threats remain the outdated technical and material production bases of the leading branches of the economy, an imperfect legislative framework that needs significant updating, the fragmentation, and imperfection of Ukraine's laws, environmental problems caused by the war, a complex demographic situation in the country, brain drain, etc. The conclusions concluded that the important ways to stabilize the difficult situation are the emphasis on the continuation of export and production of agricultural products, the well-founded importance of military orders for the heavy industry of Ukraine, and attention drawn to the need for reforming and improving legislative and current program documents that regulate economic and financial activities (in particular, the Law of Ukraine "On the Fundamentals of Financial Security", "Economic Security Strategies of Ukraine for the period up to 2025", etc.).

Is european attachment sufficiently strong to support an EU fiscal capacity: Evidence from a conjoint experiment

Based on a conjoint survey experiment with 10,000 respondents from France, Germany, Italy, Netherlands and Spain at the end of March/beginning of April 2020, we explore how individual characteristics shape support among Eurozone citizens for a European Union (EU) budgetary assistance instrument to combat adverse temporary or permanent economic shocks hitting EU Member States. We consider particularly the role of socioeconomic factors, such as income and education, covid fears and European attachment. Remarkably, how covid worries and European attachment affect the support for specific designs of the assistance instrument is not affected by other factors, in particular not by socioeconomic factors. These latter factors play an important role affecting support, independent of European attachment. Programs with European Commission monitoring (and recommendations) and cross-country redistribution, possibly even mandatory towards poor countries, can count on stronger support from those with higher European attachment. Those with strong covid fears are generally more in favor of EU budgetary assistance, mandatory spending of assistance on healthcare and redistribution to poor countries. Programs with Commission monitoring (and recommendations) receive extra support from high-income and highly-educated individuals. Also, the latter group specifically favors potential or mandatory cross-border redistribution. The independent role of individual European attachment suggests that instruments other than socioeconomic policies, e.g. better information provision about its use, may help raise support for an EU assistance instrument.

Effects of Maitland Thoracic Joint Mobilization and Lumbar Stabilization Exercise on Diaphragm Thickness and Respiratory Function in Patients with a History of COVID-19.

Objective: We investigated the effects of maitland thoracic joint mobilization and lumbar stabilization exercise on diaphragm thickness and respiratory function in patients with a history of COVID-19. Methods: Thirty patients who had passed one month after COVID-19 onset were randomly divided into maitland thoracic mobilization and lumbar stabilization and combined breathing exercise groups; each group performed thoracic mobilization and lumbar stabilization exercises and combined breathing exercise and ergometer exercises, respectively, for 50 min, three times a week, for eight weeks. We used the MYSONO U5 MicroQuark to evaluate diaphragm thickness and respiratory function (forced vital capacity, forced expiratory volume in the one second, peak expiratory flow), respectively. Results: There were no significant between-group differences in general patient characteristics and change in diaphragm thickness and respiratory function. Both groups showed significant improvement within each parameter. However, the maitland thoracic mobilization and lumbar stabilization group showed more significant improvements than did the combined breathing exercise group (p < 0.05). Conclusion: In this study, we confirmed the maitland thoracic joint mobilization and lumbar stabilization exercise on the diaphragm thickness and respiratory function in patients with a history of COVID-19.

Central Banking in Pandemic Times

The sense of extreme disruption brought by Covid-19 led to the fast adoption of unprecedented containment policies. Central banks played a key role in this regard by adopting bold and unprecedented forms of financial stabilization as well as support for government debt in the bond markets. The overall effect has been the blurring of the boundary between monetary and fiscal policy, a key pillar of the “neoliberal” era. Furthermore, the Fed acted as a de facto lender of last resort in dollars of the global financial system, thus playing a global stabilization role even as the Trump administration worked to weaken traditional US ties to global economic governance.