Strengthening potential output is high on the agenda for economic policy in the European Union. While there is widespread agreement that structural policies have a positive impact on long-term growth, there is a controversial discussion whether coordination of macroeconomic policies can...

The notion of new economy was coined in the United States when there was increasing evidence that, as a result of the introduction of new technologies, the traditional behavior of macroeconomic variables might have changed. The expansion of the 1990s differed from its predecessors in three...

Fortschritte bei der Armutsbekämpfung sind in Bolivien seit Beginn der Reformen eher bescheiden geblieben, wenn man die erzielten Stabilisierungs- und Wachstumserfolge als Referenz zugrunde legt; sie sind sogar enttäuschend, wenn man sie an den Zielen der Armutsreduzierungsstrategie misst. Die...

Auch in Deutschland gewinnen Bestrebungen an Boden, einzelne Verkehrsinfrastrukturprojekte privat finanzieren zu lassen. Am ehesten ist dies bei Brücken oder Tunneln möglich, da bei solchen Objekten meist nicht auf konkurrierende gebührenfreie Wege ausgewichen werden kann. Dies trifft...

The European Council and the European Parliament adopted the European Electricity Directive in 1996. Since the end of the implementation period in 1999, some parts of the European power sector have been liberalized. In most countries, e.g., in Germany, price reductions and comprehensive...

International comparative studies of student performance have initiated political discussions in countries all over the world on how to improve the educational achievement of students. The empirical evidence suggests that central exams help to achieve higher student performance. Central exams...

The recovery in Euroland has started at the beginning of this year but it has remained rather moderate. Real GDP increased at an annual rate of less than 1½ percent during the first half of 2002. Capacity utilization has declined further and unemployment continued to go up. While exports have...

Because of the upswing in electronic commerce via the Internet, governments in the European Union and the United States have been discussing the shaping of an effective system of turnover taxation in cyberspace since the late 1990s, but have failed to agree on a definite tax system. An analysis...

The economy in the euro area has turned around. While GDP stagnated during the second half of 2001, there are more and more signs that output will increase considerably in the first half of this year. All in all, the slowdown has not been very pronounced. One indication for this is that in 2001,...