Abstract Services of general economic interest (such as water, electricity, gas, broadcasting, waste removal, waste disposal and bus services) are usually provided by public or semi-public institutions. Often they enjoy special privileges protecting them from open competition. The European...

Abstract Five eras of multilevel public finance are discussed: the German Kaiserreich, the Weimar Republic, the Federal Republic of Germany and the European Union before and after the euro crisis. Multilevel systems can work efficiently as long as they are organized according to the principle of...

Abstract Credit is the backbone of capitalism because credit allows allocating resources efficiently to economic activities. For the case of distress, a bankruptcy regime is established which allows reviving viable but financially distressed businesses and to liquidate structurally distressed...