. @ECB Chief Economist Philip Lane suggests that for both the global financial crisis and the Covid-19 pandemic, it is to a country’s advantage to have available fiscal space. He suggests that sometimes large and unexpected surges in public debt could be necessary again in future.

Helene Rey ( @helene_rey London Business School) notes that in good times, enacting an efficient consolidation is desirable. Expenditure rules help to achieve this, but such rules can impact on the quality of spending, with lower investment spending than needed.

In discussing current fiscal rules, @CharlesWyplosz believes that there is a fiscal policy externality given a historical tendency towards deficits in the European Monetary Union, but the Stability and Growth Pact doesn't work and so far hasn't worked.

In response, @agnesbq1 adds that an expenditure rule is more resilient in the long term, and it is also more amenable to countercyclical policies. She says that this is especially relevant for the upturn in the Euro Area.

Council Chair Sebastian Barnes closes the conference - “there is agreement that we need active fiscal policy now, but must be mindful of the risks of high debt in the future. How we achieve that is the key question for the years ahead”.