Economics Roundtable

After weeks of contradictory statements on the question how to handle Greece, the Heads of State and Government of the EU member states used their informal European Council meeting on February 11th  for a strong political signal that aimed at calming markets and giving political support to the Greek ...

I have been asked to testify in front of the European Parliament's Committee on Economic and Monetary Affairs on the planned financial supervisory structure in the European Union and I had my hearing in Brussels last week. Here is my statement:

Dear Ms. Chairwoman Sharon Bowles, Ladies and Gentlemen,

Let me first ...

We know how limited the influence of the European Parliament (EP) is in the shaping of the EU’s economic policy and in managing the current financial and economic crisis. And we also know that what parties say before parliamentary elections is not necessarily the policy they implement afterwards, especially not ...

The German Foreign Secretary and social democratic candidate for the Chancellors office in the next general elections in September 2009 has finally formulated some ideas on the future of Eurozone governance. Unexpected by many who had given up hope that the SPD candidate would pronounce himself on this matter before ...

Regarding the SPE’s performance in the European elections, a recurrent question was why the Socialists/Social Democrats did not reach better scores: Why hasn’t the left been able to capitalise on the shift in public attitudes against conservative economic liberalism and right wing individualism in the current crisis? The SPE’s election ...

In a new publication for the American Institute of Contemporary German Studies (AICGS) at the Johns Hopkins University in Washington, D.C., I argue that no matter who is going to win the election in Germany in September, Germany will continue to be an obstacle to the reduction of global imbalances. ...

The probable junior partner in Germany’s new coalition, the liberal FDP, on Sunday reached a historically strong result with around 14.6 percent (estimate of 11:54 p.m.) of the votes. For the first time in eleven years, it is set to join the federal government. Given its strong result, FDP chairman Guido Westerwelle ...

In our new contribution for Project Syndicate, we argue that the European Monetary Union needs a new stability pact which limits not government budgets, but imbalances in the current accounts of the member states. In such a pact, both deficit and surplus countries would be required to use their fiscal ...

Last week, the Grand Coalition made sure that their legacy in Germany's economic policy stance will be far beyond the next election on September 27, 2008. After the Bundestag had already voted to amend the constitution and to include a sweeping ban on public borrowing a couple weeks ago, the ...

According to recent news reports, the new German coaliton government has found a nice trick which would allow them to cut taxes in the years from 2011 onwards without having to cut spending nor having to borrow more at that time.

Sounds too good to be true? Right. It is not ...