The savings measures of private households currently exceed the limited financing needs of companies around the world, and the difference is reflected in an increase in sovereign debt. In the EU, over the last two and a half decades non-financial corporations recorded funding surpluses in one...

Der Prozess der europäischen Integration ist nach einer Periode erheblicher Erfolge ins Stocken geraten. Nicht nur die Finalität der EU ist umstritten, auch die Einigung auf kleinere Reformen oder einzelne Verordnungen fällt zunehmend schwer. Manches ist auf die Verunsicherung durch die...

Die Europäische Union scheint sich in einer Vertrauenskrise zu befinden. Vor allem nach der Finanz- und Eurokrise kam es weiträumig zu langanhaltenden Vertrauensverlusten. Die Einschätzung wirtschaftspolitischer Probleme unterscheidet sich aber zwischen verschiedenen regionalen Gruppen...

The ageing of the European population gave rise to heated discussions. Most participants recommended severe reductions of public pensions, a shift towards a funded system and increased savings of the current generation to reduce the burden of the next one. The paper elaborates five...

The traditional debate on the real and financial consequences of ageing is based on two assumptions: a deteriorating old-age dependency ratio and declining productivity of an ageing population. Both suppositions are questionable. Relevant for the future burden is not the old-age dependency ratio...

Happiness is increasingly named as a target of policy measures. Apart from the confusing fact that the attention-grabbing catchword 'happiness' refers to 'life satisfaction' in most cases, this approach appears preferable to alternatives as utility functions, magic polygons or to the opaque...

Credit rating agencies have come under increased scrutiny since the financial crisis. Their failure to recognise the threats to the financial system prior to the crisis coupled with their steady downgrading of European sovereign debt has led to much criticism, especially from European...