Available online: https://pub.norden.org/nord2022-001/ This issue of the Nordic Economic Policy Review surveys the economic repercussions of the COVID-19 pandemic and the health and economic policies introduced to minimise its impact in the Nordic countries. Although national policies were broadly similar, they also differed in many respects. Given that some enjoyed greater success than others, comparing different policies and their effects may yield valuable lessons for the future. The Nordic countries weathered the pandemic relatively well compared to most other high-income countries, both in terms of public health and economic repercussions. Infection and excess mortality rates were comparatively low in the Nordic Region, except in Sweden, where they relied more on recommendations and guidelines than mandatory measures to contain the spread of the virus. The fall in GDP was also comparatively small and short-lived in all the countries except Iceland, where tourism plays a more prominent role in the economy. Nordic Economic Policy Review (NEPR) aims to convey policy-relevant, up to date research on different economic issues. The review produces one issue per year, each time with a new topic and researchers. NEPR strives to make the latest economic research accessible to both decision-makers and a broader audience, as well as to contribute to Nordic knowledge exchange on economic policy issues and challenges.

The Nordic Economic Policy Review is published by the Nordic Council of Ministers. This year's issue is part of the Danish presidency programme for the Nordic Council of Ministers in 2015. The review addresses policy issues in a way that is useful for in-formed non-specialists as well as for professional economists. All articles are commissioned from leading professional economists and are subject to peer review prior to publication. The review appears once a year. It is published electronically on the website of the Nordic Council of Ministers: www.norden.org/en. On that website, you can also order paper copies of the Review (enter the name of the Review in the search field, and you will find all the information you need).

This issue of Nordic Economic Policy Review explores the implications of new EU-wide climate policy in the Nordic countries. All of them have introduced more ambitious targets for abatement than the EU, but are the national targets and measures consistent with the EU’s new Fit for 55 package? If not, how should national policies be made consistent with EU policy? EU directives set targets for national climate policy, but member states are free to choose the means of achieving them. Are national measures to meet targets set by EU directives efficient? If not, how can they be made so? What are the costs and benefits of national climate policy aiming for more stringent targets than those under Fit for 55? We have put these questions to experts on the economics of climate policy in Denmark, Finland, Norway and Sweden. Available online: https://pub.norden.org/nord2023-001/

How well designed are the financial regulations that have been imposed after the global financial crisis in 2008–09 and the subsequent euro crisis? Will the new bail-in rules work in a systemic crisis, or do we risk further costly bail-outs by governments? How does monetary policy influence household debt? Have macroprudential tools been well-calibrated? Answers to these questions are crucial for judging the risks that the current corona crisis might also trigger a new financial crisis. The 2020 issue of the Nordic Economic Policy Review consists of six papers, including an introduction by editors Lars Calmfors and Peter Englund.