Germany is often criticized for its large current account surpluses. The surpluses are caused by differences in economic growth between Germany and its major trading partners, the innovative strength of German enterprises, as well as improved relative price competitiveness and a successful...

The unfavourable balance of foreign direct investment plays a major role in the ongoing debate on the quality of Germany as a business location. High direct investment outflows and low inflows compared with the United Kingdom and France are often seen as a sign of weakness of Germany as a...

The emergence of Sovereign Wealth Funds (SWFs) and some spectacular investments of these funds in recent years have caused widespread attention on international financial markets. Most SWFs are domiciled in Arabian countries, East Asia and Russia. Their low transparency led to concerns that SWFs...

Despite a tightening of German foreign investment law in 2009 in reaction to the growing importance of state controlled entities and national security concerns, Germany has remained open for FDI. So far German authorities have handled the new law carefully. But, was the change necessary?

The ongoing political crisis between Russia and the West jeopardize the achievements in economic relations that have been made over the past two decades. Foreign direct investments in Russia which are essential to modernize its economy may be lost if the Russian government does not send clear...

Debt levels in the eurozone have reached new record highs. The member countries have tried to cushion the economic consequences of the corona pandemic with a massive increase in government spending. There are various calls to abolish or soften the Maastricht rules of limiting sovereign debt. The...

The Eurosystem and the Deutsche Bundesbank will incur substantial losses in 2023 that are likely to persist for several years. Due to the massive purchases of securities in the last 10 years, especially of government bonds, the banks' excess reserves have risen sharply. The resulting high...

Germany is often criticized for its large current account surpluses. The surpluses are caused by differences in economic growth between Germany and its major trading partners, the innovative strength of German enterprises, as well as improved relative price competitiveness and a successful...

The unfavourable balance of foreign direct investment plays a major role in the ongoing debate on the quality of Germany as a business location. High direct investment outflows and low inflows compared with the United Kingdom and France are often seen as a sign of weakness of Germany as a...