This paper challenges the institutional sclerosis view of the German crisis according to which rigid labour markets and generous welfare state institutions have driven Germany into its position as "Europe's sick man". In general, the view is not convincing, because the underlying hypotheses...

The authors fundamentally question the claims that institutional sclerosis explains the present economic stagnation in Germany. Instead, they argue that the combined effects of restrictive monetary policies, restrictive and sometimes pro-cyclical fiscal policies, and overly moderate wage...

The New Consensus approach in macroeconomics is criticised for its exclusive but unwarranted reliance on stabilising monetary policies, for its ill-designed approach to the role of wages and wage policies, and for its complete neglect of fiscal policies. From a Post-Keynesian perspective, it is...

Since the start of the European Monetary Union fiscal policy in the Euro area has been dominated by the Stability and Growth Pact (SGP). Quite obviously the SGP has been unsuccessful in fulfilling its goals, fiscal sustainability and supporting economic growth. More and more countries have...

In the present paper we question the mainstream diagnosis of Germany’s post-2000 stagnation as well as the prescribed remedies. We show that the ‘institutional sclerosis’ view of Germany’s stagnation is unfounded and that therefore the political measures proposed and actually taken are...

We analyse the long-run imbalances of finance-dominated capitalism underlying the present crisis – which began in 2007 – with a focus on developments in the US and Germany. We argue that beyond inefficient regulation of the financial sector, the severeness of the present crisis has been...

Using a macroeconometric model we simulate different scenarios for alternative wage and monetary policies and their effects on macroeconomic performance in Germany. First, ex post scenarios for the period from 1991 until 2000 are simulated, and then ex ante scenarios for the period from 2001...

This paper challenges the institutional sclerosis view of the German crisis according to which rigid labour markets and generous welfare state institutions have driven Germany into its position as "Europe's sick man". In general, the view is not convincing, because the underlying hypotheses...

This paper traces the euro zone’s inadequate macroeconomic performance in recent years back to the predominance of a restrictive macroeconomic policy mix based on a ‘new monetarist’ approach to economic policy. An approach based on a (post-)Keynesian analysis is presented as a growth and...

The paper fundamentally challenges the institutional sclerosis explanation of the present German economic stagnation. Instead, we present a macroeconomic explanation focusing on the combined effects of too restrictive monetary policies, too restrictive and sometimes pro- cyclical fiscal policies...