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Together with Wirtschaftswoche, the Hertie Foundation invites interested thinkers from the media, universities, think tanks, trade unions, companies and foundations to apply for the essay prize “Democracy and Economy”. The Corona Pandemic is increasingly turning into a stress test for the complicated relationship between democracy and economics. This warrants the question, how much democracy capitalism needs – and how much capitalism needs democracy. Submissions should take a fresh look at the interplay between democracy and the economy, between politics and economics. The deadline for submissions is August 10, 2021.
The essay prize will be awarded for both previously published and unpublished work. Published work will be awarded up to €3,000 in prize money, while unpublished work will be awarded €7,000 (first place), €3,000 (second place) and €2,000 (third place).
The winning texts will be published in WirtschaftsWoche.
All further information and the application form can be found here.
As it has traditionally occurred following our previous Workshops, this time too, a number of contributions selected from our VIII New Paradigm Workshop – “Future of the German model II: Perspectives for the next government” – have been summarised and appear on the new release of Zeitgespräch Wirtschaftsdienst
101. Jahrgang · Juli 2021 · Heft 7 – Wirtschaftsdienst.
The selected contributions are available for download in the links below:
Die Definition einer zukunftsfähigen Finanzpolitik
Max Krahé, Insitut für Sozioökonomie der Universität Duisburg-Essen; Denkwerkstatt „Dezernat Zukunft“
Philippa Sigl-Glöckner, Denkwerkstatt „Dezernat Zukunft“
Wie kann Wirtschaftspolitik zur Eindämmung des Populismus beitragen?
Robert Gold, Institut für Weltwirtschaft in Kiel
Krise und Reformbedarf der BaFin
Martin Hellwig, Max-Planck-Institut zur Erforschung von Gemeinschaftsgütern in Bonn
Gerhard Schick, Verein Bürgerbewegung Finanzwende
Ungleichheit der Haushaltsnettoeinkommen – Trends, Treiber, Politikmaßnahmen
Markus M. Grabka, DIW Berlin/SOEP
Klimaschutz und der moderne Staat
Tom Krebs, Universität Mannheim
There is (once again) a lot of talk about inflation. The reference point is one of the Germans’ favorite specters of terror: the hyperinflation. In an interview, Carl-Ludwig Holtfrerich explains how the fear of inflation was already politically instrumentalized by Reich Chancellor Brüning to enforce a harsh austerity course. Moreover, he says, the historical memory of the two crises of the Weimar Republic is clouded by mixing hyperinflation and the Great Depression.
Instead of inflation, the economic historian is more concerned about the Germany’s attitude towards public debt. Under the reference to a solid budget, there is not enough money for urgently needed public investments. This is counterproductive for wealth creation, especially in a world with declining private investment and a simultaneous increase in global savings. According to Holtfrerich, this development is also the reason for the historically low interest rate environment – and not the ECB’s zero interest rate policy.
You can read the full interview here.
The social market economy (Soziale Marktwirtschaft) has been the consensus concept of German economic policy for decades. Hardly any party or interest group can do without paying homage. But apparently the population sees it differently: according to various surveys, a majority of Germans have for some time been of the opinion that they do not benefit from the current economic system and that the current economic system needs a (fundamental) improvement .
The documentary Germanomics is about the search for the why. Through conversations with 19 scientists, the documentary captures the concept of the social market economy in concrete indicators and highlights the economic policy status quo in Germany in the super election year 2021. The film is also based on some projects of the Forum. Among them a study on inequality by Charlotte Bartels and Carsten Schröder (DIW) or an interview with Robert Gold on the economic roots of populism .
The Bundestag election campaign should be about more than short-haul flights and Christmas money, argues Thomas Fricke in Der Spiegel. Populism, climate change and the increasing gaps between winners and losers of globalization – the coming government must face up to big questions. The contributions at the eighth New Paradigm Workshop of the Forum New Economy last week give an impression of the really important matters of the future, so the tenor of the column.
First and foremost, this includes asking the question of how to effectively reduce the widening gap between rich and poor in Germany, or how to curb the loss of control felt by many people, which, according to populism researcher Robert Gold, is noticeably helping to fuel populist movements. How to truly combat the climate crisis is another question looming large. Tom Krebs of the University of Mannheim estimates that the German government would have to invest 100 billion euros over the next 10 years to enable an industry conversion to green hydrogen. And how is this supposed to be financed if the sensibility of the debt brake remains unquestioned? Joe Biden in the USA is currently demonstrating what a politics of tomorrow may look like. Can and should we achieve something similar here? All of this and more was discussed during the Forum New Economy conference – showing what should actually dominate the election debate.
You can read the full column here.
An overview of the contributions to the VIII New Paradigm Workshop can be found here.
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.