Editors' Introduction. Would You Like to Shrink the Welfare State? A Survey of European Citizens (Tito Boeri, Axel Borsch--Supan and Guido Tabellini). Is the Crisis Problem Growing More Severe (Michael Bordo, Barry Eichengreen, Daniela Klingebiel and Maria Soledad Martinez--Peria). Structural Booms. (Edmund Phelps and Gylfi Zoega). Implications of Ethnic Diversity (Paul Collier). Fighting Collusion by Regulating Communication Between Firms (Kai--Uwe Kuhn). Inequality and Convergence in Europe's Regions: Reconsidering European Regional Policies (Michele Boldrin and Fabio Canova)