Ludger Schuknecht is Senior Adviser in the Directorate General Economics of the European Central Bank where he contributes to the preparation of monetary policy decision making and the ECB positions in European policy coordination. He was previously head of the ECB’s fiscal surveillance section which followed assignments at the World Trade Organisation and at the International Monetary Fund. His recent research focuses on public expenditure policies and reform and the analysis of economic boom-bust episodes. He wrote Public Spending in the 20th Century: A Global Perspective together with Vito Tanzi.