Since 1990, expenditure on education has increased in Austria for every educational level. This has been the result of an extension of education beyond compulsory level as well as a shift from apprenticeships to vocational colleges. The other side of the coin of increasing costs are greater...

Comparative education research is getting increasingly important in the face of the EU process of open coordination of education policies. An international comparison of expenditure on education as a percentage of GDP puts Austria in the front league of the developed world. The high priority...

The European Commission, newly constituted after the EU elections, has been launching its work for the period of 2014-2019. The bank stress test shows that 25 of the 130 European banks tested are in a problematic situation. One of the five Austrian banks tested does not meet the requirements....

Following a cyclical downturn in 2014, the Austrian economy is set to grow at a moderate pace of 1.3 percent p.a. over the period from 2015 to 2019. Private consumption and investment will experience a sluggish growth, while the external contribution to GDP growth will remain modest. The gradual...

The WIFO Business Cycle Survey serves as an important early-indication tool for the economic situation in Austria. Using a Markov regime-switching model, it is possible to determine at an early point in time whether the business cycle is in its upward or downward mode. Regime probabilities are...

The European Council proposes to the European Parliament that Jean-Claude Juncker become president of the European Commission. Aiming to get the inflation rate in the euro area back to the 2 percent threshold, the ECB introduces, for the first time in its history, negative interest rates for ECB...

With the progress achieved in the implementation of a Single Supervisory Mechanism (SSM) and the agreement on a future procedure for a Single Resolution Mechanism (SRM) for distressed banks, the EU has taken an important step towards establishing a Banking Union. Spain and Ireland have declared...