Allocation Turning from stabilisation to allocation, I see a role for a fiscal union that performs an allocative function – ensuring resources are used efficiently. In the literature, this typically refers to the provision of public goods, and in this context one possibility is to use common funds to incentivise growth-enhancing reforms.
Education acts as a kind of bedrock, a foundation that helps people deal with change and face the future with confidence. Change is often difficult. As you know, this region has had to cope with a good deal of difficult economic adjustment. What can make change easier to deal with is a backdrop of stability in underlying policy fundamentals.