Abstract Existing rules of debt limitation in the German fiscal federalism are insufficient. The minimal condition to a new national fiscal rule requires adherence to the Maastricht criteria. This paper analyses existing reform proposals discussed in the Föderalismuskommission II and proposes a...

This paper studies two alternative budget rules to overcome the shortcomings of the current laws for the German Länder: The Swiss debt brake as well as a version incorporating a golden rule presented by the German Council of Economic Experts. A simulation analysis reveals the necessary...

In this paper, we compare growth and welfare effects of various budget rules within an endogenous growth model with productive public capital, utility enhancing public consumption and public debt. We find that introducing a fixed deficit regime does not affect the long run growth rate compared...

Summary This paper studies two alternative budget rules to overcome the shortcomings of the current laws for the German Länder: The Swiss debt brake as well as a version incorporating a golden rule presented by the German Council of Economic Experts. A simulation analysis reveals the necessary...

On average young people "undersave" whereas old people "oversave" with respect to the rational expectations model of life-cycle consumption and savings. According to numerous studies on subjective survival beliefs, young people also "underestimate" whereas old people "overestimate" their...