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Redesigning the Welfare State argues that the current high level of
unemployment in Germany not only creates a major challenge for the
German welfare state, but is to a good extent caused by the way the
country's welfare system is designed. The authors review the public
debate on labour market reforms, which has been ongoing since 2002,
and discuss the first set of reforms that have been enacted since
then. As the reforms carried out so far fall short of what is
actually needed to increase employment and economic growth in the
Eurozone's largest economy, the authors introduce a proposal for a
more fundamental redesign of the German welfare state. With
comparative discussions of important elements of recent labour
market reforms in the US, the UK and the rest of Europe, this book
will appeal to all labour market researchers, and to those with an
interest in applied work and policy advising in Germany. It will
also appeal to decision makers and experts at international
organisations and think tanks with a specialisation on Europe and
Germany.
The German state banks - or Landesbanks - are not only some of the
largest banks in Germany but are also a dominant force in the
international banking sector. These state-owned banks enjoy special
privileges and government support which have made them major
players in the global arena of banking and finance.Protected by the
German taxpayer's seemingly bottomless pockets in the form of state
warranties, Landesbanks are able to take part in financing some of
the largest projects in the world. They occupy nearly fifty per
cent of the top places in both Moody's and Standard and Poor's
international rankings. Professor Sinn critically scrutinizes the
privileges of the German Landesbanks and questions the
justification of government intervention in the banking sector. He
predicts that European integration and the introduction of the euro
will lead to a fierce take-over battle between Europe's banks. He
argues that, given the state warranties, it seems likely that the
German Landesbanks will be among the winners in this battle and
concludes that the German public banking system has grown far
larger than is appropriate for a market economy. This timely book
addresses issues of concern for European bankers and policymakers
alike. It will also be of interest to students and scholars of
financial economics, European integration and money and banking.
In the 1990s, labour productivity growth accelerated in the United
States, yet slowed down in other industrialised countries,
reversing a three decade long tendency of convergence. The book
explores this phenomenon. It first identifies the methodological
and statistical problems involved in measuring productivity and
making cross-country comparisons in this area. Then the role of
factor accumulation for the diverging trends across the OECD world,
with a particular focus on the dispersion of information and
communication technology (ICT), is reviewed. In-depth studies of
single countries provide further insights regarding growth trends
in the United States, Japan, Germany, and France. Finally,
empirical investigations regarding the determinants of productivity
growth at an international level complement the analyses. The
results stress that public infrastructure and education, employment
rates and working hours, and ICT spending play an important role in
explaining the existing differences in levels and changes of
productivity. This comprehensive book, on recent research regarding
international gaps in productivity growth, will be of great
interest to policy advisors and academics, political
decision-makers and students of economics, business administration,
international business and international policy.
Target balances are the largest single item in some of the balance
sheets of the Eurosystem's national central banks (NCBs), and yet
very little is known about them by the general public and even by
economists. This book shows that Target balances measure overdraft
credits between the NCBs that resemble ordinary fiscal credit and
which have grown disproportionately, exceeding one billion euros.
There is, however, no parliamentary legitimation for the Target
balances. The book sheds light on the economic significance of the
balances, questions their limitlessness, and addresses
controversial views that have been expressed regarding them. It
uses the Target statistics to analyze the course of the euro crisis
and the ECB's policy reactions from the time of the Lehman
bankruptcy up to the outbreak of the Corona crisis. It analyses the
credit risks involved for the Eurosystem and concludes with a
reform proposal. This book will be of interest to non-specialist
economists and policy makers.
This volume contains the proceedings of a conference held in 1990
on the theme of Exchange Rate Regimes and Currency Unions. The
papers are all devoted to theoretical and empirical analyses of
systems of fixed and flexible exchange rates, to the role of
central bank behaviour and other government policies in such
systems, to the prospects, workings and effects of a European
monetary system, and to topics of capital mobility and economic
integration in general.
The contributions are concerned with the theoretical and empirical
analyses of fixed and flexible exchange rate systems, the role of
central bank and other government policies in such systems, the
prospects, workings and effects of a European Monetary System, and
capital mobility and economic integration.
The Fundamental Issues Involved Why do we need a theory of
uncertainty? It is a fact that almost all man's economic decisions
are made under conditions of uncertainty, but this fact alone does
not provide a strong enough argument for making the effort
necessary to generalize ordinary preference theory designed for a
world of perfect certainty. In accordance with Occam's Razor, the
mathematician may well welcome a generalization of assumptions even
if it does not promise more than a restatement of known results.
The economist, however, will only be well disposed towards making
the effort if he can expect to achieve new insights and interesting
results, for he is interested in the techniques necessary for the
generalization only as means to an end, not as ends in themselves.
A stronger reason for developing a theory of uncertainty,
therefore, seems to be the fact that there are kinds of economic
activities to which the non-stochastic preference theory has no
access or has access only through highly artificial constructions.
Such activities include portfolio decisions of wealth holders,
speculation, and insurance. These will be considered in detail in
the last chapter of the book. The main purpose of this book,
however, is not to apply a theory of uncertainty to concrete
economic problems, the purpose rather is to formulate such a
theory.
A leading economist develops a supply-side approach to fighting
climate change that encourages resource owners to leave more of
their fossil carbon underground. The Earth is getting warmer. Yet,
as Hans-Werner Sinn points out in this provocative book, the
dominant policy approach-which aims to curb consumption of fossil
energy-has been ineffective. Despite policy makers' efforts to
promote alternative energy, impose emission controls on cars, and
enforce tough energy-efficiency standards for buildings, the
relentlessly rising curve of CO2 output does not show the slightest
downward turn. Some proposed solutions are downright harmful:
cultivating crops to make biofuels not only contributes to global
warming but also uses resources that should be devoted to feeding
the world's hungry. In The Green Paradox, Sinn proposes a new, more
pragmatic approach based not on regulating the demand for fossil
fuels but on controlling the supply. The owners of carbon
resources, Sinn explains, are pre-empting future regulation by
accelerating the production of fossil energy while they can. This
is the "Green Paradox": expected future reduction in carbon
consumption has the effect of accelerating climate change. Sinn
suggests a supply-side solution: inducing the owners of carbon
resources to leave more of their wealth underground. He proposes
the swift introduction of a "Super-Kyoto" system-gathering all
consumer countries into a cartel by means of a worldwide,
coordinated cap-and-trade system supported by the levying of source
taxes on capital income-to spoil the resource owners' appetite for
financial assets. Only if we can shift our focus from local demand
to worldwide supply policies for reducing carbon emissions, Sinn
argues, will we have a chance of staving off climate disaster.
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Economic Policy 42 (Paperback)
Georges de Menil, Richard Portes, Hans-Werner Sinn, Richard Baldwin, Giuseppe Bertola, …
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R863
Discovery Miles 8 630
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Out of stock
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Economic Policy is written for all those with an informed interest
in economic policy problems. All articles are submitted to rigorous
scrutiny by a panel of distinguished economists from around the
world, resulting in a volume of authoritative and accessible
articles, each followed by the comments of panel members.
Economic Policy has earned a reputation around the world as the one
publication that always identifies current and emerging policy
topics early.
Papers are specially commissioned from first-class economists and
experts in the policy field.
The editors are all based at top European economic institutions and
each paper is discussed by a panel of distinguished economists.
This unique approach guarantees incisive debate and alternative
interpretations of the evidence.
Economic Policy increases to 4 issues in 2005.
"Economic Policy" has earned a reputation around the world as the
one publication that always identifies current and emerging policy
topics early. It discusses key international issues when they
matter and is invaluable for keeping track of important
topics."Economic Policy" gives you hot topics, from the experts.
Papers are specially commissioned from first-class economists and
experts in the policy field. The editors are all based at top
European economic institutions and each paper is discussed by a
panel of distinguished economists. Their discussions are published
at the end of each paper. This unique approach guarantees incisive
debate and alternative interpretations of the evidence.
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