We employ a new macro-epidemiological agent based model to evaluate the “lives vs livelihoods” trade-off brought to the fore by Covid-19. The disease spreads across the networks of agents’ social and economic contacts and feeds back on the economic dimension of the model through various...

This paper evaluates the temporary VAT reduction introduced by the German government over the 3Q2020:4Q2020 as a controversial part of the COVID-19 stimulus package. Critics argue that VAT reductions are ineffective because of limited pass-through to consumer prices and during lockdown....

This paper explores the evolution of Swedish fiscal policy from one extreme approach to another one in less than four decades. After the demise of the Bretton Woods-system in the early 1970s, Swedish fiscal policy was based on a Keynesian approach with the goal to stabilize the business cycle...

This paper derives a set of policy lessons for Portugal from the new fiscal framework including a fiscal policy council that gradually emerged in Sweden after the deep economic crisis of the early 1990s. By now, Swedish public finances stand out among the strongest in Europe. Recent Swedish...

There is a never-ending quest for a stable economy with full employment and low inflation. Economists have suggested and policymakers have experimented with different fiscal and monetary policy regimes since at least the beginning of the industrial revolution. In this paper, we study Swedish...

May 2022 marked the 90th anniversary of the end of Heinrich Brüning's term as Reich Chancellor. To this day, the economic effects of Brüning's extreme austerity measures remain unclear. However, new data and calculations have made an initial quantification of the economic consequences of...

Im Mai 2022 hat sich das Ende von Reichskanzler Heinrich Brünings Amtszeit zum 90. Mal gejährt. Bis heute sind die ökonomischen Auswirkungen von Brünings extremer Austeritätspolitik noch immer ungeklärt. Neue Daten und Berechnungen erlauben erstmals die Quantifizierung der ökonomischen...

This paper uses a model of intergenerational accounting to simulate the intergenerational distribution of oil wealth in Venezuela. Venezuelan oil production does not seem to follow an optimal extraction path. Nevertheless, this is true if we do not consider what the government does with the...

This paper evaluates the temporary VAT reduction invoked by the German government over the third and fourth quarter of 2020 as part of the COVID-19 stimulus package. There is considerable controversy. Critics argue that VAT reductions are ineffective in the presence of lockdown measures in place...

This short piece discusses the results of simple regression analysis using cross country data to determine the factors that have influenced fluctuations in real output during the covid-19 pandemic period. Focus is on explaining not only output growth from 2020 to the first half of 2021, but also...