Im Januar 2002 wurden die neuen Euroscheine mit großen Hoffnungen verteilt, heute, nur zehn Jahre später, steckt das Europrojekt in einer tiefen Krise: Was als europäisches Friedensprojekt begann, hat zu Streit und Unwillen geführt, der nur durch den tiefen Griff in das Sparkonto der...

Redesigning the Welfare State argues that the current high level of unemployment in Germany not only creates a major challenge for the German welfare state, but is to a good extent caused by the way the country's welfare system is designed. - The authors review the public debate on labour market...

Based on explicit present value calculations, the paper critizises the view theat den PAYGO system wastes economic resources. In present value terms, there is nothing to be gained from a transition to a funded system even though the latter offers a permanently higher rate of return. The sum of...

The upcoming demographic crisis in Germany demands fundamental reforms of the pension system. In a democracy, reforms are, however, only feasible when they are supported by the majority of the electorate. To determine whether the majority is in favor of reforms of the pension system, we...

A political miracle occurred when Germany was reunited, and at first glance an economic miracle has followed. Real incomes in the east have now reached the western level, and investment per capita has been much higher than in the west. However, every third deutschmark spent in the east has been...