PERIOD

Cost of living crisis, ecological emergency and war are some of the new challenges facing Europe. How should the EU economic governance framework change to allow Europe to become stronger, more sustainable and resilient to face these challenges? Finance Watch, Heinrich Böll Stiftung Brussels and the New Economic Foundations are hosting a conference to discuss the ongoing review of the framework.

When? 24 January, 16:00-18:00 pm
Where? In Brussels (Press Club) or online

More information and registration here.

Fiscal policy: Relieve the burden more precisely! – Article (German)
Achim Truger, Wirtschaftsdienst, 16.12.2022

German fiscal policy is facing the next big challenge because of the Ukraine war and the energy crisis. The fiscal effects of the corona pandemic have not yet finally subsided.

Why the Age of American Progress Ended – Article
Derek Thompson, The Atlantic, 12.12.2022

Invention alone can’t change the world; what matters is what happens next.

The UK government’s policy on public sector pay is foolish – Opinion piece
Martin Wolf, Financial Times, 11.12.2022

Letting inflation reduce real wages while expecting services to be maintained is dishonest.

It’s time for a big justice check – Article (Paywall, German)
Heribert Prantl, Süddeutsche Zeitung, 10.12.2022

The nobility has been abolished. The moneyed aristocracy, however, lives and thrives. This is the effect of inheritance tax law: the larger the inheritance, the smaller the tax.

Systemic inflation drivers (and what to do about them) – Article
Robin Wigglesworth, Financial Times, 08.12.2022

Is inflation truly only a macro phenomenon?

Where next for Europe’s industry? – Opinion piece
Martin Sandbu, Financial Times, 08.12.2022

More evidence that factories have weathered the energy crisis well.

Finance and the polycrisis – Fed effects & European corporate bond market – Blogpost
Adam Tooze, 23.11.2022

Though the polycrisis may deliver shocks from different directions, if history has confirmed anything in 2022, it is that the dollar credit-cycle remains a common denominator of much of the world economy.

As Event and Team Assistant, you will support the Forum’s team in organizing and running its various events with high-level speakers and participants. Activities include invitation management, venue booking, event logistics for live and hybrid formats and catering organisation. You also support the Forum’s entire team with arising administrative taks such as information management and processing of invoices, and the Director with travel management and expense reports. You will work as a core team member in a young committed team in the heart of Berlin.

All further information and the link to the application portal here: https://cezanneondemand.intervieweb.it/europeanclimate/jobs/event-and-team-assistant-forum-new-economy-28893/en/

 

When are public finances (legally) sound? -Blog post (German)
Max Krahé & Philipp Orphal, Makronom, 28.11.2022

The term “sound public finances” is often used without really being filled with life. Yet the definition is central to European and national fiscal policy.

The wealthy who like the idea of a wealth tax – Opinion piece
Martin Sandbu, Financial Times, 24.11.2022

The moneyed classes are beginning to think governments have been too kind to them.

33 per cent for oil and gas companies: This is Lindner’s plan for an excess profits tax – Article (Paywall, German)
Martin Greive & Julian Olk, Handelsblatt, 23.11.2022

The Finance Minister did not want a general excess profits tax, but now has to implement one for oil and gas companies. However, he does not want to call it that.

The Resistible Rise of Germany’s Far Right – Article
Dalia Marin, Project Syndicate, 22.11.2022

As nationalist parties gain power across Europe, Germany’s own populist surge has remained confined to its deindustrialized east. This is because the country has benefited more from globalization than other developed countries – and it could benefit from deglobalization as well.

Europe’s Fiscal Framework. The people’s view? – Policy Paper
Frank van Lerven, Dominic Caddick, Sebastian Mang, New Economics Foundation, 04.11.2022

How austerity made us poorer and less able to cope with crises.

In the years 2009 to 2020, at least 409 billion euros in corporate assets were bequeathed or given away tax-free due to corporate privileges. In the last twelve years, 3,630 persons with transfers of more than 20 million euros received a total of 260 billion euros tax-free, i.e. on average more than 71 million euros per person.

If one takes as a basis the tax rate of at least 27 percent applicable to these high transfers, tax revenues of more than 70 billion euros were foregone in these few cases alone.

Click here for the study and here for the “inheritance tax clock”, which illustrates how much tax revenue the state has lost due to the tax privileges on wealth transfers since 2009 and what could have been financed with the money instead.

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.

Corona Crisis

CORONA CRISIS

The current Corona crisis is probably the worst economic crisis of the post-World War 2 era. Economists are working hard on mitigating the economic effects caused by COVID-19 to prevent a second Great Depression, the break-up of the Eurozone and the end of globalisation. We collect the most important contributions.