"Yollies" is short for "young leading innovators," and Europe is running short on them, argues a new policy brief from Bruegel.   The authors, Bruegel Senior Fellow Reinhilde Veugelers and ULB professor Michele Cincera, explain why the European Union\'s research and development deficit, relative to the United States, can be attributed to the EU having fewer yollies, especially those that are less R&D intensive. Policy makers should pay attention to the heterogeneity across young sectors, say the authors, and design sector-specific measures to boost innovation and growth in the EU.

Drawing lessons from the current debt crisis, Bruegel\'s new Blue Bond Proposal suggests that if countries participating in the common currency pooled their debt together, it would strengthen the euro\'s trading value and its position as a reserve currency. In the paper, authors Jakob von Weizsäcker and Jacques Delpla argue that Eurozone members\' debt amounting to 60% of GDP should be consolidated and sold as a high-quality "European" obligation known as a "blue bond," and that additional debt would be packaged as junior "red" bonds.

\'Weathering the Storm\', a new publication from the Stockholm Network, assesses the future for Central and Eastern European (CEE) healthcare in light of a financial crisis that has exposed the fragility of public budgets. The paper (PDFs of the full paper and a summary are available) argues that CEE countries need to consider new ways of providing healthcare: By encouraging open competition in healthcare; by allowing greater use of public-private partnerships; and by fostering more varied sources of healthcare funding. Whilst the problem will undoubtedly be finding the political will, it should not be overlooked that reform still presents the best chance for establishing health systems that are fit to help and cure citizens in the difficult years to come.