Political Budget Cycles: Evidences from European Union

The main purpose of the current book is both to verify and extend the literature by studying the phenomenon of the Political Budget Cycles (PBC) in several democratic countries as well as the European member countries. In particular, panel data for 29 different countries from 1975 have been used. The current research studies the correlation between the election year and the fiscal deficit for all the economies in the sample. I found that there exists a positive correlation between the fiscal deficit and the year of the election. On average, during the election period the deficit increases by 48% in the countries of the sample. In addition, the PBC has been studied for both the EU and Eurozone member countries. As you read this work, it is important to keep in mind the immortal words of Pericles (495-429 B.C): '' Those who are politically apathetic can only survive if they are supported by people who are capable of taking action.''