PERIOD

‘We will remember Trump as an era of chaos’ – Interview (Paywall)
Nils Kreimeier, Stern, 20.07.2025
Princeton historian Harold James warns of the long-term damage the Trump era will cause the United States – and predicts a brilliant comeback for Europe. Germany in particular could attract a lot of capital from international investors.

These experts are tasked with reforming the debt brake – Article (Paywall)
Christian Reiermann, Spiegel, 24.07.2025
It is one of the most delicate tasks facing the coalition: reforming the debt brake. The SPD is relying on reformers to achieve this, while the CDU/CSU is countering with hardliners.

150 billion gap – Klingbeil’s financial woes are growing – Article (Paywall)
Martin Greive, Jan Hildebrand, Handelsblatt, 24.07.2025
According to information from Handelsblatt, the budget deficit will have grown by tens of billions by 2029. At the same time, Klingbeil will become the one trillion euro debt minister.

Tax on AI and crypto could fund climate action, says former Paris accords envoy Article
Fiona Harvey, The Guardian, 17.07.2025
Laurence Tubiana urges governments to consider levies on energy-hungry technology.

European Democracy Needs Its Middle Class Back – Commentary (Paywall)
Bertrand Badré and Eric Hazan, Project Syndicate, 17.07.2025
The middle class forms the core of our societies and the scaffolding that keeps our democracies standing. Rather than treat it as the collateral damage of inevitable progress, Europe’s leaders should pursue a strategy to rebuild it, financed by European sovereign bonds.

How economics teaching became the Aeroflot of ideas Opinion (Paywall)
Ha-Joon Chang, Financial Times, 24.07.2025
The discipline is failing students by ignoring the biggest social, political and ecological challenges facing the world today.

Will the baby boomers now have to pay? Interview (Paywall)
Interview: Carla Neuhaus and Mark Schieritz, ZEIT Nr. 31/2025, 23.07.2025
Marcel Fratzscher from the German Institute for Economic Research wants to tax the baby boomers to help pensioners living in poverty. Pension expert Bert Rürup says: That is unfair and will not work.

In the customs dispute with the US, Europe is stronger than it seems – Guest article (Paywall)
Jürgen Matthes and Samina Sultan, Handelsblatt, 15.07.2025
The US is dependent on many EU goods. Germany in particular should not overestimate its dependence on the US market, warn Jürgen Matthes and Samina Sultan.

We Warned About the First China Shock. The Next One Will Be Worse. – Guest Essay
David Autor and Gordon Hanson, The New York Times, 14.07.2025
The Trump administration is fighting the last war while China marches toward dominating the industries of the future.

Discussion about DIW proposal: A “boomer soli” for the pension fund? Article
16.07.2025, tagesschau.de
The baby boomer generation is retiring – a financial feat for the pension fund. Economic researchers are now proposing that richer pensioners pay a “solidarity contribution” for poorer ones. The proposal has been widely criticised. But there is also praise.

German government announces opposition to planned EU budget  – Article
ZEIT, 17.07.2025
The EU wants to significantly increase its budget – and counter-finance it with new levies for large corporations. Germany considers the proposal ‘unacceptable’.

Bundesbank sees German economic recovery at risk, IMK does not – Article
Spiegel, 16.07.2025
Donald Trump threatens the EU with 30 per cent tariffs from August. There are conflicting opinions on the possible consequences: The Bundesbank is worried about Germany’s economy, economists at the IMK believe the risk is limited.

Back to oil – Article
Heike Buchter, ZEIT, 14.07.2025
Under President Joe Biden, the USA had greatly expanded renewables. That is now changing: Donald Trump is creating lucrative advantages for the oil and gas industry.

A Moving History Essay
Ian Goldin, IMF Finance & Development Magazine June 2025
Migration has propelled human progress for hundreds of thousands of years.

Get more out of every Euro spent – Guest article (Paywall)
Lars Klingbeil and Éric Lombard, Handelsblatt, 15.07.2025
Europe needs more investment and less bureaucracy to survive in global competition, write the finance ministers of France and Germany, Lars Klingbeil and Éric Lombard, and present concrete reform proposals.

These debt rules are a danger for Europe – Commentary (Paywall)
Martin Greive, Handelsblatt, 16.07.2025
Instead of having a comprehensible set of rules, the EU Commission has created a shadowy realm of financial policy. The rules are a black box, as the example of Germany shows.

Make America affordable again – Opinion (Paywall)
Rana Foroohar, Financial Times, 13.07.2025
That’s the main lesson to take from New York populist Zohran Mamdani.

Two centuries of unequal exchanges – Blog
Thomas Piketty, Le Monde, 15.07.2025
How should we analyze the new wave of trade tensions that gripped the world in 2025? To better understand the issues at stake, the World Inequality Lab recently published a historical study on global trade and financial imbalances since 1800, titled « Unequal Exchange and North-South Relations: Evidence from Global Trade Flows and the World Balance of Payments 1800-2025. »

Tax on ultra-rich: ‘France has the opportunity to lead the way,’ say Nobel Prize-winning economists – OpEd
Daron Acemoglu, George Akerlof, Abhijit Banerjee, Esther Duflo, Simon Johnson, Paul Krugman, Joseph Stiglitz, Le Monde, 07.07.2025
As public deficits balloon and extreme wealth explode, creating a minimum tax on the assets of billionaires should be a priority, argue seven Nobel Prize-winning economists in an op-ed for Le Monde.

When Ideology Trumps Economic Interests – Commentary
Dani Rodrik, Project Syndicate, 09.07.2025
There can be little doubt that many Republican lawmakers voted against their constituents’ economic interests in supporting US President Donald Trump’s “One Big Beautiful Bill.” That outcome holds an important lesson for students of political economy, who typically assume that interests are self-evident.

The End of America’s Exorbitant Privilege  – Commentary
Desmond Lachman, Project Syndicate, 07.07.2025
Since his return to office, US President Donald Trump has been systematically destroying markets’ faith in the dollar and the US economy. If he refuses to heed their warnings, as seems likely, the US should brace for a dollar and bond-market crisis in the run-up to next year’s midterm elections.

Every second German household owns more than 100,000 euros – Article
Wealth in Germany is very unevenly distributed. However, analysed figures from the German Bundesbank show that the middle class also has significant reserves.
Spiegel, 09.07.2025

“Trump has gone too far this time” – Interview
Interview: Marcus Gatzke, ZEIT, 09.07.2025
Trump’s tax giveaways for the rich will hurt him, says Nobel Prize winner Joseph Stiglitz. But the situation is not hopeless: the USA could become fairer.

BRICS in 2025 – Analysis
Tim Sahay and Kate Mackenzie, Phenomenal World, 05.07.2025
Two energy systems and development models compete for primacy within the group.

This is how Klingbeil wants to compete with Merz in foreign policy – Article
Martin Greive, Handelsblatt, 09.07.2025
SPD leader and Federal Finance Minister Klingbeil is massively expanding the Vice-Chancellor’s Office. And, according to Handelsblatt, is appointing a foreign policy team for the first time.

The Limits of Limiting Democracy – Blog
Max Krahé, Michael W. Müller, Verfassungsblog, 09.07.2025
Constitutional Democracy and the Future of Fiscal Rules.

Are we drowning in debt? – Interview
Interview: Dr. Kolja Rudzio und Mark Schieritz, ZEIT Nr. 28/2025, 2. Juli 2025
The coalition is jeopardising financial stability with its budget, says economics professor Lars Feld, who advised Christian Lindner. Jens Südekum, advisor to Lars Klingbeil, counters: Germany must take risks.

More climate protection would preserve prosperity according to study – Article
Spiegel, 11.06.2025
Experts have calculated two scenarios and come to the conclusion that stricter climate protection would also benefit the global economy: in the long term, the climate-friendly model results in an astonishing plus.

EU’s shift to a US savings model risks dismantling its social contract – Opinion
Daniela Gabor, Financial Times, 02.07.2025,
Political choices should be debated democratically, not hidden in technocratic agendas of ‘financing gaps’.

Holding on to gas is a crime against the future – Commentary
Ein Kommentar von Dr. Stefan Schmitt, 02.07.2025, ZEIT
Heatwaves will become more frequent in future, the climate crisis is accelerating. But our economy clearly lacks the instinct for self-preservation.

Europe Is Making a Big Mistake Opinion
Anton Jäger, New York Times, 30.06.2025
On its current course, Europe is headed for neither military Keynesianism with a social dividend nor a defense strategy suitable for an aspiring superpower. Rather, it risks getting the worst of both worlds: a meager economic recovery without long-term prospects for growth and sumptuous payouts to a defense sector that would not allow Europe to match its peers.

‘Spain is growing faster than all other developed economies.’ – Interview
Sandra Louven, Handelsblatt, 02.07.2025
Spain is the only member state to refuse to meet the five per cent target set by NATO. In an interview with Handelsblatt, Minister Cuerpo explains why he wants to maintain this special role.

A “big, beautiful law”. For the rich. – Article
Heike Buchter, ZEIT, 01.07.2025
Donald Trump wants to fulfil all his election promises with his “Big Beautiful Bill”. But the plans are meeting with resistance – even within his own ranks.

Where the Big Beautiful Bill envisages social cuts. – Article
Jona Spreter, ZEIT, 30.06.2025
The US government is planning to make it more difficult for poorer households to access health insurance in order to finance tax cuts. An overview of the budget bill.

America is over neoliberalism and neoconservatism. Trump is not. –  Opinion
Samuel Moyn, The Guardian, 03.07.2025
Between his so-called ‘big, beautiful bill’ and his bombing of Iran, Trump has confirmed he is a man of a familiar past

A Tax Victory for Multinationals Over People – Article
Joseph E. Stiglitz, José Antonio Ocampo, and Jayati Ghosh, 30.06.2025, Project Syndicate
Once again, G7 governments have decided to put the interests of multinationals ahead of the interests of developing countries, small and medium-size businesses, and their own citizens, this time by exempting US multinationals from the global minimum corporate tax agreed in 2021. The US must not be allowed to dictate global policy.

The Case for Zohranomics – Column
John Cassidy, The New Yorker, 30.06.2025
As some Wall Street billionaires melt down over Zohran Mamdani’s policy platform, a prominent progressive economist argues that it meets the moment.

A New Economic Order Needs a Moral Compass – Article
Adriana Abdenur, Project Syndicate, 18.06.2025
The alternative to a failing world order is not retreat into nationalism or technocracy, but rather bold re-commitment to shared values. Though the postwar world was not perfect, the generation that created it recognized that multilateralism and effective international institutions require a normative foundation.

Billionaires are more likely to die than emigrateArticle
Marilena Piesker, Die Zeit, 23.06.2025
The Trump Card is intended to lure the rich to the USA, and a wealth tax could drive them out of Germany. But is this really happening? Scientists have researched it.

The UK suffers from tax evasion by the rich – Article
Torsten Rieke, Handelsblatt, 24.06.2025
Wealthy people around the world are moving to tax havens. The UK is particularly hard hit by the exodus – partly due to stricter tax laws. This calls right-wing populist Farage onto the scene.

There is no time to lose with the DeutschlandfondsArticle
Jens Südekum, Handelsblatt, 18.06.2025
The German government can act directly and set up or strengthen venture capital funds aimed at start-ups in the growth phase. A guest article.

Ideas for Lars – Article
Robert Pausch, ZEIT No. 24/2025, Updated on 6 June 2025
Vice Chancellor Klingbeil wants to strengthen trust in democracy. Julia Krause, until recently head of the think tank ‘More in Common’, is to find out for him how.

OUR MAIN TOPICS

New Paradigm

NEW PARADIGM

After decades of overly naive market belief, we urgently need new answers to the great challenges of our time. More so, we need a whole new paradigm to guide us. We collect everything about the people and the community who are dealing with the question of a new paradigm and who analyze the historical and present impact of paradigms and narratives – whether in new contributions, performances, books and events.

Redefining
the role of
the state

REDEFINING
THE ROLE OF
THE STATE

For decades, there was a consensus that reducing the role of the state and cutting public debt would generate wealth. This contributed to a chronic underinvestment in education and public infrastructure. New research focuses on establishing when and how governments need to intervene to better contribute to long-term prosperity and to stabilize rather than aggravate economic fluctuations.

Remaking
finance

REMAKING
FINANCE

More than a decade after the financial crisis there still seems to be something seriously wrong with the financial system. Financial markets still tend to periodically misprice risk and contribute to boom and bust cycles. A better financial system needs to discourage short-termism and speculative activity, curtail systemic risk and distribute wealth more broadly.

Greening
prosperity

GREENING
PROSPERITY

During the high point of market orthodoxy, economists argued that the most 'efficient' way to combat climate change was to simply let markets determine the price of carbon emissions. Today, there is a growing consensus that prices need to be regulated and that a carbon price on its own might not be enough.

Reducing
inequality

REDUCING
INEQUALITY

The rising gap between rich and poor has become a threat to social cohesion in most rich countries. To reverse this trend it will be crucial to better understand the importance of different drivers of income and wealth inequality.

Innovation Lab

INNOVATION LAB

Do we need a whole new understanding of economic growth? What would be a real alternative? How viable are alternatives to GDP when it comes to measuring prosperity? These and other more fundamental challenges are what this section is about.

Globalization
for all

GLOBALIZATION
FOR ALL

After three decades of poorly managed integration, globalization is threatened by social discontent and the rise of populist forces. A new paradigm will need better ways not only to compensate the groups that have lost, but to distribute the gains more broadly from the start.

Europe
beyond markets

EUROPE
BEYOND MARKETS

The euro was planned during a period in which economic policy making was driven by a deep belief in market liberalism and the near impossibility of systemic financial crises. This belief has been brought into question since the euro crisis, which showed that panics do happen. New thinking needs to focus on developing mechanisms to protect eurozone countries from such panics and to foster economic convergence between members.