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the New Economy Ticker
The latest news, debates, proposals and developments on new economic thinking at a glance.
Germany’s ‘whatever it takes’ spending push to end years of stagnation – Article (Paywall)
Olaf Storbeck and Laura Pitel, Financial Times, 06.03.2025
Europe’s largest economy could return to pre-pandemic growth trend.
‘Real turning point’: Economists praise debt brake reform and special funds from the CDU/CSU and SPD – Article
Ulrike Hagen, Frankfurter Rundschau, 06.03.2025
CDU/CSU and SPD are putting together a 500 billion euro package for infrastructure and defense, including a relaxation of the debt brake. Economists praise the measure, but also warn of potential risks.
Südekum: ‘Now the exciting economic policy begins’– Article (Paywall)
Jens Südekum in an interview with Lukas Scholle, Surplus Magazine, 06.03.2025
Economist Jens Südekum helped develop the CDU/CSU and SPD investment package. In this interview, he explains what is now important in terms of economic policy.
Wealth inequality is fuelling financial crises – Article (Paywall)
Xhulia Likaj, 04.03.2025, Surplus Magazine
Increasing wealth inequality is not only a threat to democracy. It is also fuelling financial crises.
A bazooka for Friedrich Merz – Article (Paywall)
Mark Schieritz, ZEIT Nr. 10/2025, 05.03.2025
Some decisions change the country for a long time. The agreement between the CDU/CSU and SPD on previously unimaginable loans and a different debt brake could be one of them.
Climate researchers call for further reform of the debt brake – Article (Paywall)
Michael Sauga, Spiegel, 06.03.2025
Despite the agreement between the CDU/CSU and SPD, the Potsdam Institute for Climate Research is in favour of a modified debt brake: higher loans should be made dependent on progress in the fight against global warming.
This is what a climate-friendly debt rule could look like – Article
Jonas Waack, TAZ, 04.03.2025
Climate falls behind in the black-red proposal to reform the debt brake. A think tank suggests how things could be better.
Bundesbank drafts a possible reform of the debt brake – Article
Spiegel, 04.03.2025
Where will the money come from that is needed for the Bundeswehr, infrastructure or Ukraine? While Friedrich Merz seems to be focussing on special funds, the Bundesbank is proposing something else.
What a reform of the debt brake would bring – Policy Brief
Tom Krebs, Böckler-Impuls, 04.03.2025
The debt brake slows down public investment – and thus harms the country’s future. A small but significant adjustment could alleviate the problems.
Tariffs are not going to solve America’s ills – Article (Paywall)
Maurice Obstfeld, Financial Times, 04.03.2025
Punitive import duties will neither reduce the US trade deficit nor boost employment in manufacturing.
Resisting the Empire of Fossil Fuels – Article
Laurence Tubiana & Emmanuel Guérin, Le Grand Continent, 04.03.2025
A Strategy For COP30 in Lula’s Brazil.
Europe’s Powerful Tool Against Russia – Article (Paywall)
Andrew Kosenko and Joseph E. Stiglitz, Project Syndicate, 04.03.2025
If European leaders want to follow through on their statements in support of Ukraine following America’s betrayal of the country, they must seize the moment by seizing Russia’s assets. Europe has become the world’s bulwark against the rising tide of authoritarianism, and it can no longer afford to hide behind legalistic excuses.
‘The debt brake should be reformed now’ – Article
Interview: Marlies Uken and Zacharias Zacharakis, Die ZEIT, 26.02.2025
Economist Monika Schnitzer argues in favour of changing the debt regulation with the old Bundestag. There is great urgency because of Donald Trump’s policies.
Germany’s election victor must ditch its debt rules — immediately – Article (Paywall)
The Economist, 24.02.2025
Friedrich Merz has weeks to shore up his country’s defences.
Von der Leyen plans EU special fund for defence – Article (Paywall)
Jakob Hanke Vela, Handelsblatt, 26.02.2025
The EU Commission President warns of a ‘revanchist Russia’ and wants to arm Europe with an immediate programme – with integrated EU air defence, drones and military AI.
‘A special defence fund will not solve the problem’– Article (Paywall)
Philippa Sigl-Glöckner in interview with Benjamin Ansari, Handelsblatt, 28.02.2025
The debt brake remains one of the contentious issues on the way to a new federal government. SPD-affiliated economist Philippa Sigl-Glöckner explains what a reform could look like.
Europe can rearm without making savings elsewhere – Article
André Kühnlenz, Finanz und Wirtschaft (FuW), 25.02.2025
Europe’s interest rates are outstripping those of the US, investors are bracing themselves for higher debt to arm the continent. Switzerland and the UK could also co-operate with the EU.
What European Security Requires – Article (Paywall)
Laurence Tubiana, Project Syndicate, 26.02.2025
In European policymaking circles nowadays, there is talk of prioritizing competitiveness, defense, and stability over ambitious climate goals. But to abandon the European Union’s green-transition strategy would be a grave economic mistake.
Five takeaways from Germany’s historic election — in charts – Article (Paywall)
Anne-Sylvaine Chassany, Martin Stabe and Jonathan Vincent, Financial Times, 24.02.2025
Non-voters and young people turned out for the AfD and far left, depriving the CDU of an enthusiastic mandate.
Austerity Is Back – and More Dangerous Than Ever – Article (Paywall)
Mark Blyth, Project Syndicate, 25.02.2025
A decade and a half after the global financial crisis, austerity has returned. But this time it is not just an economically dangerous idea that promises to make a bad situation worse; in the hands of Elon Musk and Argentine President Javier Milei, it is also a political weapon and a redistributive tool.
Germany can turbocharge Europe’s renewal – if it will only seize this moment – Article
Timothy Garton Ash, The Guardian, 26.02.2025
Three times in the postwar era Germany made strategic choices that benefited Europe – with the US at its side. Now it must do it in opposition to Trump.
US raw materials colony? Trump offers Ukraine this deal – Article (Paywall)
Moritz Koch and Mareike Müller, Handelsblatt, 25.02.2025
The new US administration wants to be compensated for its support of Ukraine. A current draft for a controversial reconstruction fund has been submitted to Handelsblatt.
Higher US car tariffs could hit German steel industry hard – Article
Der Spiegel, 28.02.2025
Germany’s steel industry is already in crisis. If US President Donald Trump now also imposes higher car tariffs, there is the threat of a further setback: the vehicles contain a lot of steel from Germany.
‘We still have the chance to successfully modernise the industry’ – Article (Paywall)
EU Commissioner Teresa Ribera in interview with Jan Diesteldorf and Josef Kelnberger, Süddeutsche Zeitung, 26.02.2025
Teresa Ribera is one of the most powerful women in Europe. The Spanish socialist is tasked with defending Europe’s climate policy and at the same time helping the economy. That, she says, is no contradiction at all.
Germany needs an investment offensive: a five-point plan for the new federal government – Article
Marcel Fratzscher, Tagesspiegel, 18.02.2025
Germany has lost competitiveness. The new federal government must therefore change course in economic and financial policy. The solutions are obvious.
Germany needs investment incentives – but with smart conditions – Article (Paywall)
Patrick Kaczmarczyk, Surplus Magazin, 18.02.2025
The SPD and Greens are calling for investment incentives in their election manifesto. But these are not linked to conditions such as climate protection or good working conditions.
Everything feels much more expensive for AfD voters – Article (Paywall)
Dana Hajek and Jan Guldner, ZEIT ONLINE, 12.02.2025
The extent to which people perceive inflation is also linked to their voting intention, new data shows. Perceived inflation is strongest on the political fringes.
Is it actually true that inequality is increasing in Germany? Article (Paywall)
Alena Kammer, ZEIT ONLINE, 20.02.2025
Inequality in wealth and income is increasing, write the BSW and the Left in their election manifestos. But it’s not quite that simple. What the figures show.
Elon Musk’s billions concern us all – Article (Paywall)
Guest article by Gerhard Schick, ZEIT ONLINE, 13.02.2025
Musk has 400 billion. The richest German alone owns 100,000 times as much as the average German household. Wealth tax helps? Wrong!
Normalizing the Normalization of the Far Right – Article (Paywall)
Jan-Werner Mueller, Project Syndicate, 17.02.2025
History and social science research show that voters take their cues from elites. When politicians who are seen as mainstream treat an extremist far-right party as normal, public opinion will tend to follow; and once such normalization has happened, as in Europe today, it is virtually impossible to undo.
The End of Globalization – Article (Paywall)
Adam Tooze, Surplus Magazin, 14.02.2025
Trump’s second term in office marks the end of familiar globalisation. Adam Tooze explains how Europe can react to the threat of economic chaos.
Europe Alone – Article (Paywall)
Daniela Schwarzer, Project Syndicate, 20.02.2025
US Vice President J.D. Vance’s speech at this year’s Munich Security Conference made it clear that the long postwar era of Atlanticism is over, and that Europeans now must take their sovereignty into their own hands. With ample resources to do so, all that is required is the collective political will.
Forget the US — Europe has successfully put tariffs on itself – Article (Paywall)
Mario Draghi, Financial Times, 17.02.2025
High internal barriers and regulatory hurdles are far more damaging for growth than anything America might impose.
How European Defense Bonds Could Work – Article
Sander Tordoir, IPQ, 13.02.2025
Common EU debt issuance does not create an off-the-shelf bazooka. Making bonds work implies inevitable trade-offs and requires real tax revenues.
Xi Is Making the World Pay for China’s Mistakes – Article (Paywall)
Brad Setser, New York Times, 18.02.2025
Trump’s tariffs are bad enough, but Xi is fundamentally distorting world trade to dig China out of the hole its economic decisions have created.
Trade isn’t all about Trump – Article (Paywall)
Rana Foroohar, Financial Times, 17.02.2025
World business and commerce are changing in ways that have nothing to do with the US president’s tariff threats.
Rethinking the Biden Era Economic Debate – Blogpost
Mike Konczal, Substack, 14.02.2025
A critical response to Jason Furman’s “Post-Neoliberal Delusion and the Tragedy of Bidenomics,” that dives into both the administration and ideas of the past 4 years.
The Post-Neoliberal Delusion – Article
Jason Furman, Foreign Affairs, 10.02.2025
And the Tragedy of Bidenomics.
No delusions: Bidenomics wasn’t perfect, but it did many great things – Blog
Jared Bernstein, Substack, 12.02.2025
Responding to Jason Furman.
A Real Post-Neoliberal Agenda – Article
Marshall Steinbaum, Boston Review, 11.02.2025
Bidenomics foundered on ten years of Democratic reluctance to declare war on inequality.
Breaking the Economics Discipline’s Austerity Consensus – Article
Clara E. Mattei, Jacobin, 06.02.2025
Economics departments across the United States slavishly adhere to the mainstream consensus on austerity and the free market. The Center for Heterodox Economics thinks there’s a better way.
The misunderstood export world championship – Article (Paywall)
Heike Buchter, ZEIT ONLINE, 10.02.2025
Trump is right: Germany’s export surpluses are a problem – for German workers. Because the profits only end up with a few wealthy people.
How the trade war could expand beyond tariffs – Article
Peter R. Orszag, Washington Post, 13.02.2024
Other countries can punch back against the United States in many ways.
The EU’s strategy to counter Trump’s tariffs: An iron fist in a velvet glove – Article
Camille Gijs, Politico, 13.02.2024
Brussels has strengthened its trade toolkit since Donald Trump’s first term. But it would need the broad support of EU countries to strike back hard.
The EU needs the courage to imagine a different digital economy – Article (Paywall)
Martin Sandbu, Financial Times, 09.02.205
Trump’s tech oligarchs are afraid of Europe’s regulatory power — as they should be.
‘The CDU/CSU only presents us with false solutions’ – Interview
Interview by Simon Poelchau with Sebastian Dullien, Taz, 10.02.2025
Germany’s public infrastructure is at the level of the late 20th century, says economist Sebastian Dullien. Investment is needed.
When warm rooms become a luxury – Article
Annika Joeres, ZEIT ONLINE, 12.02.2025
The CDU is planning to abolish the Heating Act and is focussing on the CO₂ price. But a new study shows: It would have to rise sharply to achieve something similar.
Study: Every second working woman without a livelihood – Article
Süddeutsche Zeitung, 12.02.2025
According to a study, 53 per cent of working women do not earn enough to secure their livelihood in the long term. DGB Vice-Chairwoman Hannack calls for fathers to be empowered in care work.
They don’t want the wild market. And not the full-coverage state either. – Article (Paywall)
Thomas Fricke, ZEIT ONLINE, 05.02.2025
The election campaign on economic policy dangerously misses the needs of the people. A large survey shows: Most want an active state.
Germans struggle equally with market and state. – Article (Paywall)
Stephan Lorz, Börsen-Zeitung, 05.02.2025
The citizens share a critical attitude towards the market, but they also do not support small-scale political interventions, as shown by a survey. However, a substantive debate on this issue is missing in the election campaign.
Change in the German economy – how much industry does our country need? – Article
Jonas Nonnenmann, Frankfurter Rundschau, 07.02.2025
In Germany, industry is still stronger than in other wealthy nations. The entire sector is undergoing a transformation. An investigation.
A Fair New Deal for Germany – Article
Tom Krebs and Isabella M. Weber, Wirtschaftsdienst (2025 / Issue 1)
This contribution is part of Elections in Germany: Recommendations to the new federal government.
More borrowing, less debt – Article ( (Paywall)
Claus Hulverscheidt, Süddeutsche Zeitung, 05.02.2025
In view of the investment backlog, experts are calling for a credit-financed spending package of up to 600 billion euros from the state. A study shows: This is possible – and the debt ratio still decreases.
Investments and industrial policy instead of pseudo-solutions – Article
Sebastian Dullien, Surplus Magazine, 05.02.2025
Tax-free overtime, waiting days in case of illness, relief for the richest – all these are pseudo-solutions to economic weakness, says Sebastian Dullien
“Everyone has moved to the right? That’s too general” – Interview (Paywall)
Sebastian Beer and Helen Greiner, ZEIT ONLINE, 05.02.2025
The AfD expects a record result in the election. Political scientist Julia Reuschenbach warns against attesting a shift to the right among Germans.
Trump’s Industrial Policy Is More Continuity Than Disruption – Article (Paywall)
Elisabeth Reynolds, Project Syndicate, 31.01.2025
Despite the disruptive impact of Donald Trump’s first weeks back in the White House, the president has not strayed far from his predecessor’s industrial strategy. The challenge for Trump will be devising and implementing the right mix of carrots (subsidies) and sticks (tariffs) to create a globally competitive manufacturing sector.
There are several reasons Musk wants to control Treasury payments. None of them are good. – Article
Lindsay Owens, MSNBC, 01.02.2025
An unelected and unaccountable billionaire wants to dictate what working families can and cannot afford.
Could the world decouple from US trade? – Article (Paywall)
Martin Sandbu, Financial Times, 06.02.2025
Most countries are less dependent on exports to America than you might think.
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.