Bank liability guarantee schemes have traditionally been viewed as costless measures to shore up investor confidence and prevent bank runs. However, as the experiences of some European countries, most notably Ireland, have demonstrated, the credibility and effectiveness of these guarantees are...

Bank liability guarantee schemes have traditionally been viewed as costless measures to shore up investor confidence and stave off bank runs. However, as the experience of some European countries, most notably Ireland, has demonstrated, the credibility and effectiveness of these guarantees is...

Germany’s social contract, its “social market economy” for the past seven decades, has aimed at spreading wealth and providing a broad social safety net for all groups of society. Yet a defining feature of Germany’s new economy has been the sharp increase in inequality.