Höppner and Kastrop examine the role of fiscal institutions and budgetary procedures in Germany with respect to the objective of safeguarding sound public finances in the long-run. The paper analyses the main factors underlying debt developments in Germany in recent decades. It also examines...

Elke Baumann and Christian Kastrop discuss the main features and shortfalls of Germany's current fiscal framework and examine possible reforms. They analyze the shortcomings of the golden rule that has been applied in Germany since the end of the 1960s, which include the rule's asymmetry over...