Happiness is increasingly named as a target of policy measures. Apart from the confusing fact that the attention-grabbing catchword ‘happiness’ refers to ‘life satisfaction’ in most cases, this approach appears preferable to alternatives as utility functions, magic...

The traditional debate on the real and financial consequences of ageing is based on two assumptions: a deteriorating old-age dependency ratio and declining productivity of an ageing population. Both suppositions are questionable. Relevant for the future burden is not the old-age dependency ratio...

The ageing of the European population gave rise to heated discussions. Most participants recommended severe reductions of public pensions, a shift towards a funded system and increased savings of the current generation to reduce the burden of the next one. The paper elaborates five...

Today, economic growth is widely understood to be conditioned by productivity increases which are, in turn, profoundly affected by innovation. This volume explores these key relationships between innovation and growth, bringing together experts from both fields to compile a unique Handbook.

The current sovereign debt crisis is widely believed to have been caused by insufficient budget discipline. However, the financial sector accounts reveal that public as well as private borrowing in the euro area was dwarfed by the synchronised explosion of assets and liabilities of financial...