Die Europäische Währungsunion steckt in einer tiefen Zahlungsbilanzkrise. Privates Kapital fließt imgroßen Stil von den Peripherieländern in die Kernländer. Um den Fortbestand des Euro zugewährleisten treten öffentliche, intergouvernementale Kredite und Target-Kredite der...

We present a comparable set of results on the monetary transmission channels on firm investment for the four largest euro-area countries (Germany, France, Italy and Spain). With particularly rich micro datasets for each country containing over 215,000 observations from 1985 to 1999, we explore...

In a surprisingly growing number of regions in Germany private "regional currencies" are issued as a cash substitute for the euro. Currently, these regional currencies are conceived almost exclusively as Schwundgeld (depreciative currency), which loses value on a predetermined timescale. This...

Based on a post-Keynesian model of the relationship between wages, prices and employment, this paper begins by studying the extent to which unit labour cost trends have been responsible for disinflation and deflationary tendencies in Germany and Europe. Thereafter, the reasons for the...

The key dynamics of the transatlantic banking crisis are analyzed - with emphasis on the fact that the banking disaster of 2007/08 was not really a surprise -, and the five key requirements for restoring stability and efficiency in the EU/OECD banking sector are highlighted. Most important,...

This paper offers new insights on the price setting behaviour of German retail firms using a novel dataset that consists of a large panel of monthly business surveys from 1991-2006. The firm-level data allows matching changes in firms' prices to several other firm-characteristics. Moreover,...

This paper evaluates the predictions of different price setting theories using a new dataset constructed from a large panel of business surveys of German retail firms over the period 1970-2010. The dataset contains firm-specific information on both price realizations and expectations....

This paper provides a novel analysis of quantitative easing (QE) that focuses on its implicit fiscal dimension. The first segment examines the theory of the liquidity trap and introduces a distinction between a "weak" and "strong" liquidity trap. The second segment analyzes the impact of QE...

The discrepancy between popular impressions of how the 2002 changeover to the euro affected prices and its actual impact is perhaps the most surprising consequence of the single currency’s introduction. Following the changeover, perceived inflation rose significantly and returned to its...

Für die Unternehmen aus dem verarbeitenden Gewerbe hat sich wiederholt die Lage auf dem Kreditmarkt gebessert. Das ist das Ergebnis aus dem aktuellen ifo Konjunkturtest im August 2005. Zwar beurteilen immer noch 35% der Firmen die Kreditvergabe der Banken als restriktiv, doch 57% empfinden die...