We raise fundamental questions about macroeconomics relevant to escaping the financial-economic crisis and shifting to a sustainable economy. First, the feasibility of decoupling environmental pressure from aggregate income is considered. Decoupling as a single environmental strategy is found to...

Energy conservation is widely accepted as an important strategy to combat climate change. It can, nevertheless, stimulate new energy uses that partly offset the original savings. This is known as rebound. One particular rebound mechanism is re-spending of money savings associated with energy...

Wettbewerbsorientierung bzw. -fähigkeit wurde nach der Finanz- und Wirtschaftskrise abermals zum dominierenden wirtschaftspolitischen Leitmotiv in Europa. Die vorliegende Analyse behandelt die Frage, inwieweit dies ökonomisch gerechtfertigt erscheint. Ausgehend von der nach wie vor in fast...

The economic crisis has laid open deficiencies in the construction of the European Economic and Monetary Union. At its foundation, it was assumed that monetary integration would reduce the likelihood of asymmetric shocks. The crisis shows, however, that endogenous mechanisms may even amplify...