is Deputy Head of the Directorate for Structural Economic Analysis at Banca d’Italia. He was an Advisor to Italy’s State General Accountant in 2007-08 and a Senior Economist with the Fiscal Affairs Department of the International Monetary Fund in 2004-06. His fields of expertise and research is fiscal policy and public economics; he has published extensively on issues related to the European Union and the euro area. Contact: fabrizio.balassone@bancaditalia.it