A PAYGO system may serve as insurance against not having children and as an enforcement device for ungrateful children who are unwilling to pay their parents a pension. In fact, the latter was Bismarck’s historic motive for introducing this system. It is true that the PAYGO system reduces the...

Due to exceptionally low birth rates, the dynamism of Europe will be lagging behind that of other regions of the world for the time being. The paper assembles a rich body of comparative empirical data to clarify the extent of the demographic problems for the EU countries. It advances the view...

Although it is not possible, in general, to give a macro description of a micro model over the entire state space of the micro model, it is possible to aggregate exactly over a subspace. The set of micro states where aggregation is possible forms the aggregation set. The paper considers the...

The forces of the market and systems competition bring about economic and social convergence in Europe, and there is no need for social policies at the EU level. Social harmonization would distort migration flows and slow down the speed of economic convergence. National welfare states will be...

Globalisation means gains from trade, but not for everyone. As gains from trade come along with factor price convergence, substantial fractions of the working classes in the high-wage countries of the West are likely to belong to the group of losers. In this situation it is tempting for the...

Marshall's notion of the representative firm can be read as a macro notion with some resemblance to Keynes' aggregative concepts. Keynes' notions of aggregate demand and aggregate supply are fashioned after Marshall's definitions of demand and supply. Keynes starts with the Marshallian...