The COVID-19 pandemic massively interrupted economic activity all over the world. Governments responded by running huge fiscal deficits (financed via central banks) to support firms and consumers, thereby injecting purchasing power into the private sector on a large scale. With no corresponding...

Monetary policy currently has only limited room for manoeuvre to fight inflation. Structural supply problems, war and past omissions are having an impact. Inflation is hitting those hardest who cannot pass on the price increase. There is no evidence of a wage-price spiral in Germany at present....

Inflation targeting (IT) has become the dominant monetary policy framework around the world and most of the countries that have adopted it have successfully improved their monetary policy regime. The objective of this paper is to assess WAMZ member countries' readiness to adopt inflation...

We show that the credibility gain from permanently committing to a fixed exchange rate by joining the European Monetary Union can outweigh the loss from giving up independent monetary policy if the domestic monetary authority does not enjoy full credibility. Using a DSGE model, this paper shows...

The coming relief packages should be precisely targeted in the form of transfers for those on low incomes. In times of inflation, the efficiency of government fiscal policy is of particular importance. Additional spending projects should be critically examined accordingly. In the face of acute...

To address the distributional consequences of high inflation rates, measures are needed that target those most in need without distorting prices. The function of the price as scarcity signal is important to encourage energy saving. Direct price subsidies such as the fuel price rebate, on the...

Since the beginning of 2022, prices for food and energy have been rising sharply. In the low-income sector, this leads to financial emergencies, since the standard of living here is far below the standards of society anyway. On the other hand, the consequences of inflation can certainly be...