Nach der Bundestagswahl schlägt die Stunde der finanzpolitischen Wahrheit. Wer auch immer die nächste Bundesregierung stellt: Der Kassensturz nach der Wahl wird zeigen, dass kaum noch finanzpolitischer Handlungsspielraum besteht. Die öffentlichen Haushalte haben sich im Zuge der Rezession...

In recent years, a lot of rules concerning government expenditures as well as tax revenues were changed in Germany. Government expenditures in relation to GDP were reduced, income tax rates were lowered and the budget deficit declined. The structure of government expenditures changed in favor of...

The gross wage income distributions for different groups of taxpayers in 2004 are used to derive wage income distributions for 20072013. By applying the rules of income taxation, wage income tax revenues are deduced. Given the tax rate structure introduced in 2007, the average tax rates and the...

In many countries, fiscal policy became strongly expansionary in order to fight the recession. Structural budget deficits increased sharply and might remain high after the end of the recession. This would raise real interest rates and would impair economic growth. Some measures to reduce the...

Following the expenditure cuts decided upon by the German federal government in spring 1996, the impact of fiscal policy on the business cycle is investigated. The impulse given by fiscal policy is measured by the change of the structural general government budget surplus/deficit. It turned out...