Based on German hourly feed-in and consumption data for electric power, this paper studies the storage and buffering needs resulting from the volatility of wind and solar energy. It shows that joint buffers for wind and solar energy require less storage capacity than would be necessary to buffer...

Business representatives and union leaders in highly industrialised countries often accuse the governments of less-developed countries of practising social dumping in the sense of deliberately neglecting work-place safety legislation, co-determination rights and other fringe benefits which...

Limited liability and asymmetric information between an investment bank and its lenders provide an incentive for a bank to undercapitalise and finance overly risky business projects. To counter this market failure, national governments have imposed solvency constraints on banks. However, these...

Why have policies aimed at reducing the demand for carbon not succeeded in slowing down global carbon extraction and CO2 emissions, and why have carbon prices failed to increase over the last three decades? This comment argues that this is because of the Green Paradox, i.e. - (the anticipation...

Von Anfang an sollte der Euro mehr sein als eine Währung: Er verkörpert den Wunsch nach Einheit und Frieden in Europa. Doch gut ein Jahrzehnt nach seiner Einführung geht ein tiefer Riss durch Europa. Im Süden bleibt die Arbeitslosigkeit unerträglich, die Wirtschaft liegt am Boden. Der...