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the New Economy Ticker
The latest news, debates, proposals and developments on new economic thinking at a glance.
Europe in the Age of Industrial Policy – Article
Michael Spence, Project Syndicate, 26.06.2023
While China and the US take advantage of scale to pursue large-scale investment in critical sectors, the EU struggles to follow suit, owing to its decentralized fiscal structures and rules limiting government subsidies to industry. A new EU-level investment program is urgently needed.
What the market does not know – Article (German, Paywall)
Lisa Herzog, FAZ, 22.09.2023
Market faith is reaching its limits, decisions are not always made exclusively rationally. Now the reasonable citizen is called upon.
State without a plan – Essay (German, Paywall)
Georg Diez, die Zeit, 13.09.2023
After decades of neoliberal deregulation, the state is once again in demand. All the more reason why a vision of what the state should look like in the future is finally needed in this country.
Europe’s rightward drift is not set in stone: our new research should give hope to the left – Article
Julia Cagé and Thomas Piketty, The Guardian, 26.06.2023
We’ve examined French voting data going back to the revolution – and it shows the politics of migration is a dead end.
Germany must now make a fresh start – Guest article (German)
Isabella Weber, die Zeit, 08.09.2023
In response to the crisis, Germany now urgently needs a comprehensive investment agenda. An industrial electricity price is indispensable, but only one building block.
Wie Minimum wages work – Article (German)
Bernd Fitzenberger, Mario Bossler, FAZ, 26.09.2023
Has the introduction of the statutory minimum wage led to a decline in employment in Germany?
In its recent monthly report, Germany’s central bank has issued a stark warning about the country’s economic vulnerability due to its heavy reliance on trade with China. The report identified several key factors putting Germany’s “business model” at risk, including its dependence on China, high energy prices, and labor shortages. According to the Bundesbank, de-risking from trade with China also adds to the economic slowdown, with the IMF expecting 0.3% shrinkage in growth for 2023.
Read the whole report (in German) here, which is also featured in a recent Financial Times article here.
Thinkin’ Bout a Revolution – Article (German)
Branko Milanovic, Makronom, 07.09.2023
The seemingly anti-capitalist revolution of 1968 made the world safe for capitalism – and strengthened the positions of the right.
Unequal Germany: Socio-economic Disparities Report 2023 – Study (German)
Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung, September 2023
Inequality between urban and rural regions as well as differences between economically dynamic regions and those affected by structural change – Germany is a socially and spatially unequal country.
Olaf Scholz, the improbable role model – Article
Robert Misik, Social Europe, 04.09.2023
A state that protects—and a bulwark for democracy and modernity. Is this, Robert Misik asks, the new paradigm of the democratic left?
The EU is poised for a giant leap towards further integration – Column
Martin Sandbu, Financial Times, 04.09.2023
There is increasingly serious talk in the bloc about all manner of far-reaching reform.
G20 must forge agreement to increase tax on rich, say campaigners – Article
The Guardian, Larry Elliott, 05.09.2023
Letter from almost 300 millionaires, economists and politicians says urgent action needed to prevent extreme wealth.
Inequality and Democracy – Article
Joseph Stiglitz, Project Syndicate, 31.08.2023
With the right political reforms, democracies can become more inclusive, more responsive to citizens, and less responsive to the corporations and rich individuals who currently hold the purse strings. But salvaging democratic politics also will require far-reaching economic reforms.
On the occasion of its 5th birthday, Finanzwende e.V. in cooperation with the Friedrich Ebert Foundation is organising a panel discussion in Berlin on 13.09.2023 at 18:00.
Against the background of the climate crisis and the increasing financialisation of areas such as health or housing, questions are being raised about the role of the financial market in these developments. The panel discussion will focus on how the financial market must be promoted, realigned and pushed back for a social and ecological transformation. The panelists will be: Claudia Kemfert, Gerhard Schick, Jörg Asmussen and Reiner Hoffmann. Verena von Ondarza will moderate.
Register here.
New Eu Fiscal Rules Jeopardise Investment Needed To Combat Climate Crisis – Study
Sebastian Mang & Dominick Caddick, New Economics Foundation, 31.08.2023
A desperately needed reform of the EU’s fiscal rules is finally underway. However, the proposed rules put forward by the Commission are irresponsible – they jeopardise the public investments needed to combat climate change.
Welcome to the big nineties show! – Column (German)
Lenz Jacobsen, die Zeit, 22.08.2023
Sick man of Europe, social tourism, jerk: the CDU is bringing back the rhetoric of the nineties. That possibly says more about the party than about the present.
“We degrade the human being to a stooge” – Interview (German, Paywall)
Interview Benjamin Bidder, der Spiegel, 25.08.2023
The rich and powerful have hijacked innovations at all times, says top economist Daron Acemoğlu – already in the Middle Ages and now also in the age of artificial intelligence. Is Silicon Valley plunging humanity into misery?
Merz calls for fundamental debate on willingness to perform – Article (German)
Der Spiegel, 31.08.2023
CDU-Chef Friedrich Merz fürchtet um den Wohlstand in Deutschland. Verantwortlich für die abnehmende Wirtschaftsleistung ist seiner Ansicht nach die Ampelkoalition. Leistung werde von der Regierung bestraft.
Rethinking Growth and Revisiting the Entrepreneurial State – Article
Mariana Mazzucato, Project Syndicate, 28.08.2023
While important, economic growth in the abstract is not a coherent goal or mission around which governments should orient their policymaking. The kind of inclusive, sustainable, and robust growth that they want ultimately comes as a byproduct of pursuing other socially beneficial collective ends.
The five global economic shifts happening now – Article
Chris Giles, Financial Times, 29.08.2023
As uncertainty and inflation challenge central bankers and policymakers, they must also adapt to structural changes.
Germany underestimates the biggest growth risk – Commentary (German)
Julian Olk, Handelsblatt, 28.08.2023
The relegation rhetoric is at best partially justified. The real problem is that there is little political pressure where the need for reform is greatest.
Financial security of families determines educational advancement – Article (German)
Zeit Online, AFP, 28.08.2023
A study by the Institute of the German Economy shows which factors determine the educational path of children. The biggest hurdle is financial problems.