In response to the conflict between Ukraine and Russia, which has so far led to the Crimea being annexed by Russia, the USA and EU have introducted sanctions against individuals by way of refusing their entry and blocking their bank accounts and are threatening to increase the circle of those...

In response to poor cyclical prospects and low inflationary expectations, the ECB introduces non-standard purchasing programmes and adds securities of higher risk to its assets. Jean-Claude Juncker is confirmed President of the European Commission by the European Parliament. The European Council...

The European Central Bank starts to purchase government bonds of euro-zone countries; the Expanded Asset Purchase Programme (EAPP) is intended to increase liquidity in order to ward off the risks of a prolonged low inflation phase. Greece requires more financial aid. The sanctions imposed by the...

Two recent studies published in "Perspektiven der Wirtschaftspolitik" are used to discuss methods to develop bibliometric analyses and rankings of economic research institutions. According to them, standardisation methods using the number of staff or university graduates may have a crucial...

With the progress achieved in the implementation of a Single Supervisory Mechanism (SSM) and the agreement on a future procedure for a Single Resolution Mechanism (SRM) for distressed banks, the EU has taken an important step towards establishing a Banking Union. Spain and Ireland have declared...

The European Council proposes to the European Parliament that Jean-Claude Juncker become president of the European Commission. Aiming to get the inflation rate in the euro area back to the 2 percent threshold, the ECB introduces, for the first time in its history, negative interest rates for ECB...

The European Commission, newly constituted after the EU elections, has been launching its work for the period of 2014-2019. The bank stress test shows that 25 of the 130 European banks tested are in a problematic situation. One of the five Austrian banks tested does not meet the requirements....