Palma Polyak
Biographic Data
| ID | 4383995 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Palma Polyak |
| GIVEN NAMES | Palma |
| FAMILY NAME | Polyak |
| SIGNATURE | POLYAK P |
| AFFILIATIONS | Scuola Normale Superiore |
| ORCID | 0000-0003-4830-4663 |
| VERIFIED | Yes |
| TOTAL WORKS | 8 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 18 |
| WORKS AS AUTHOR | 8 |
| WORKS AS EDITOR | 0 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2021 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2026 |
| H-INDEX | 3 |
Interpreting spillovers
This paper examines how the European Central Bank (ECB) interprets U.S. monetary spillovers and the implications for the persistence of dollar dominance. Focusing on problem definition and agenda-setting, we ask whether ECB officials converge on a coherent diagnosis of the vulnerabilities these spillovers create. We trace how competing interpretations lead to different problem definitions. Emphasising trade and exchange rate channels reflects a t…
High-road or low-road? Europe’s EV battery rollout and the tradeoffs of green industrial policy in a geoeconomic world
The global expansion of clean-tech investment is widely framed as a triple win for decarbonization, industrial renewal, and geopolitical resilience. Yet on the ground, outcomes diverge sharply. While some projects generate clean production and domestic capacity-building, others produce environmentally harmful, low value-added enclaves that deepen dependency and provoke backlash. This article examines how such divergent outcomes emerge in the Euro…
Sacrifice Zones
This article develops the concept of coercive industrial zone (CIZ) to analyze how Europe’s electric vehicle transition is propelled by legal and territorial carve-outs that fast-track investment while suspending democratic, labor, and environmental safeguards. Drawing on evidence from Serbia and Hungary, it shows how exemption logics, territorial sacrifice, and coercive practices underpin the EU’s green industrial rollout. In Serbia, the Jadar l…
Foundering on fallacies
The Eurozone’s export-oriented policy regime and pursuit of trade surpluses remains thoroughly puzzling. Rooted in overly strict fiscal policies, inequality and underinvestment; undermining growth and contributing to trade tensions– it defies economic self-interest. This paper develops an analytical framework to confront this puzzle. It argues that these policies are self-harming, but are nonetheless pursued, because of three fallacies that obscu…
Jobs and fiction
Ireland's emergence as a European hub for ICT and pharmaceutical multinationals highlights the growing tension between spatially dispersed economic activity and the nation-centered measures used to monitor it. While 'big tech' and 'big pharma' are often praised as powerful growth engines, their real contribution to the Irish economy remains unclear, as corporate tax avoidance artificially inflates statistics. By moving around intellectual propert…
The silent losers of Germany’s export surpluses. How current account imbalances are exacerbated by the misrepresentation of their domestic costs
Germany’s excessive current account surpluses mirror domestic problems. They are rooted in inequality and a weak home market, creating an overdependence on exports. Why, then, are policymakers so reluctant to reduce them? This paper argues that a contributing factor is the public misrepresentation of surpluses’ domestic costs. Imbalances are narrated as distributional conflicts between countries, not within them; and bilateral trade is framed as …
Ireland’s Multinationals-Dominated Economy in the Pandemic
Similar to the Eurozone crisis, Ireland engineered a more successful bounce back from the COVID-19 shock than crisis-hit peers. This article argues that the Irish path is less of a product of a generalizable export-led growth strategy, but, rather, can be explained by a set of idiosyncratic features. Using a wide array of macroeconomic indicators, the analysis assesses the opportunities and risks associated with Ireland's distinct path. It shows …
External enablers of Eurozone austerity
In the onset and aftermath of the Eurozone crisis, why did the currency area stick to policies suppressing domestic spending and forcing up saving? And why could some countries uphold these policies easier than others? This paper explores how individual Eurozone members’ ease of suppressing spending was linked to the policy choices of their trading partners. It finds that beyond domestic ideological preferences, sectoral interests or distributive…
Jobs and fiction
Ireland's emergence as a European hub for ICT and pharmaceutical multinationals highlights the growing tension between spatially dispersed economic activity and the nation-centered measures used to monitor it. While 'big tech' and 'big pharma' are often praised as powerful growth engines, their real contribution to the Irish economy remains unclear, as corporate tax avoidance artificially inflates statistics. By moving around intellectual propert…
The silent losers of Germany’s export surpluses. How current account imbalances are exacerbated by the misrepresentation of their domestic costs
Germany’s excessive current account surpluses mirror domestic problems. They are rooted in inequality and a weak home market, creating an overdependence on exports. Why, then, are policymakers so reluctant to reduce them? This paper argues that a contributing factor is the public misrepresentation of surpluses’ domestic costs. Imbalances are narrated as distributional conflicts between countries, not within them; and bilateral trade is framed as …
External enablers of Eurozone austerity
In the onset and aftermath of the Eurozone crisis, why did the currency area stick to policies suppressing domestic spending and forcing up saving? And why could some countries uphold these policies easier than others? This paper explores how individual Eurozone members’ ease of suppressing spending was linked to the policy choices of their trading partners. It finds that beyond domestic ideological preferences, sectoral interests or distributive…
Foundering on fallacies
The Eurozone’s export-oriented policy regime and pursuit of trade surpluses remains thoroughly puzzling. Rooted in overly strict fiscal policies, inequality and underinvestment; undermining growth and contributing to trade tensions– it defies economic self-interest. This paper develops an analytical framework to confront this puzzle. It argues that these policies are self-harming, but are nonetheless pursued, because of three fallacies that obscu…
Ireland’s Multinationals-Dominated Economy in the Pandemic
Similar to the Eurozone crisis, Ireland engineered a more successful bounce back from the COVID-19 shock than crisis-hit peers. This article argues that the Irish path is less of a product of a generalizable export-led growth strategy, but, rather, can be explained by a set of idiosyncratic features. Using a wide array of macroeconomic indicators, the analysis assesses the opportunities and risks associated with Ireland's distinct path. It shows …
External enablers of Eurozone austerity
In the onset and aftermath of the Eurozone crisis, why did the currency area stick to policies suppressing domestic spending and forcing up saving? And why could some countries uphold these policies easier than others? This paper explores how individual Eurozone members’ ease of suppressing spending was linked to the policy choices of their trading partners. It finds that beyond domestic ideological preferences, sectoral interests or distributive…
The silent losers of Germany’s export surpluses. How current account imbalances are exacerbated by the misrepresentation of their domestic costs
Germany’s excessive current account surpluses mirror domestic problems. They are rooted in inequality and a weak home market, creating an overdependence on exports. Why, then, are policymakers so reluctant to reduce them? This paper argues that a contributing factor is the public misrepresentation of surpluses’ domestic costs. Imbalances are narrated as distributional conflicts between countries, not within them; and bilateral trade is framed as …
Ireland’s Multinationals-Dominated Economy in the Pandemic
Similar to the Eurozone crisis, Ireland engineered a more successful bounce back from the COVID-19 shock than crisis-hit peers. This article argues that the Irish path is less of a product of a generalizable export-led growth strategy, but, rather, can be explained by a set of idiosyncratic features. Using a wide array of macroeconomic indicators, the analysis assesses the opportunities and risks associated with Ireland's distinct path. It shows …
Foundering on fallacies
The Eurozone’s export-oriented policy regime and pursuit of trade surpluses remains thoroughly puzzling. Rooted in overly strict fiscal policies, inequality and underinvestment; undermining growth and contributing to trade tensions– it defies economic self-interest. This paper develops an analytical framework to confront this puzzle. It argues that these policies are self-harming, but are nonetheless pursued, because of three fallacies that obscu…
Jobs and fiction
Ireland's emergence as a European hub for ICT and pharmaceutical multinationals highlights the growing tension between spatially dispersed economic activity and the nation-centered measures used to monitor it. While 'big tech' and 'big pharma' are often praised as powerful growth engines, their real contribution to the Irish economy remains unclear, as corporate tax avoidance artificially inflates statistics. By moving around intellectual propert…
Interpreting spillovers
This paper examines how the European Central Bank (ECB) interprets U.S. monetary spillovers and the implications for the persistence of dollar dominance. Focusing on problem definition and agenda-setting, we ask whether ECB officials converge on a coherent diagnosis of the vulnerabilities these spillovers create. We trace how competing interpretations lead to different problem definitions. Emphasising trade and exchange rate channels reflects a t…
High-road or low-road? Europe’s EV battery rollout and the tradeoffs of green industrial policy in a geoeconomic world
The global expansion of clean-tech investment is widely framed as a triple win for decarbonization, industrial renewal, and geopolitical resilience. Yet on the ground, outcomes diverge sharply. While some projects generate clean production and domestic capacity-building, others produce environmentally harmful, low value-added enclaves that deepen dependency and provoke backlash. This article examines how such divergent outcomes emerge in the Euro…
Sacrifice Zones
This article develops the concept of coercive industrial zone (CIZ) to analyze how Europe’s electric vehicle transition is propelled by legal and territorial carve-outs that fast-track investment while suspending democratic, labor, and environmental safeguards. Drawing on evidence from Serbia and Hungary, it shows how exemption logics, territorial sacrifice, and coercive practices underpin the EU’s green industrial rollout. In Serbia, the Jadar l…
Economics (5 works) · Political science (4 works) · International economics (3 works) · International trade (3 works) · Macroeconomics (3 works) · Market economy (3 works) · Social Policy and Reform Studies (3 works) · Austerity (2 works) · Business (2 works) · Fiscal Policies and Political Economy (2 works)