DIW Economic Bulletin

Harmonizing Europe's Business Cycles at no Additional Cost: Six Questions to Ferdinand Fichtner

A Common Unemployment Insurance System for the Euro Area

A European transfer system could contribute to stabilization of the euro area by synchronizing business cycles in the monetary union, thus simplifying the common monetary policy. Such a system is proposed here in the form of a European unemployment insurance scheme. Compared to other forms of fiscal transfer systems, this has some advantages: by putting the focus on short-term unemployment, an automatic ...

A Transfer Mechanism as a Stabilization Tool in the EMU

With the crisis in the euro area, the issue of the institutional structure of the monetary union has gained in significance. One problem with regard to the longer-term stability of the euro area is the absence of mechanisms to adequately absorb asymmetric cyclical shocks in the individual member states. Such an instrument is essential in order to be able to implement a single monetary policy suitable ...

Ganzes Heft

German Cities to See Further Rises in Housing Prices and Rents in 2013

Over the past few years, prices and rents for flats went up in most German cities. This trend is expected to continue in 2013. Berlin, Hamburg, Munich, and Frankfurt am Main will still see the highest increases in property prices and rents. In these cities, housing prices are rising much faster than rents. By contrast, stagnating or even falling prices are forecast for the cities in the Ruhr area. ...

Slight Decline in Income Inequality in Western Germany: Five Questions to Markus Grabka

Has Income Inequality Spiked in Germany?

New analyses of personal income distribution in Germany, based on data from the German Socio-Economic Panel (SOEP), show that real market income in private households rose significantly from 2005 to 2010. An increase in real disposable income was also observed. At the same time, income inequality decreased in both western and eastern Germany. However, the latter showed a further spread at the lower ...

Ganzes Heft

Need for Reform of EU Banking: Decoupling the Solvency of Banks and Sovereigns

Recent developments in Ireland, Greece, and Spain have shown that sovereign debt crises endanger the solvency of domestic banking sectors, while banking crises in turn endanger the solvency of the domestic sovereigns. This diabolic loop between government and bank solvency is exacerbated by the home bias in banks' government bond portfolios, that is, banks' excessive exposure to domestic sovereign ...

Germany Is One of the Major Destinations for Human Trafficking: Seven Questions to Seo-Young Cho

Human Trafficking: Germany Only Average When It Comes To Protecting Victims

According to the United Nations, over 2.45 million people are victims of human trafficking, and the number of unrecorded cases is also believed to be significant. Therefore, many countries have increased their efforts to combat trafficking and to protect the victims. DIW Berlin recently updated the 3P Anti-Trafficking Policy Index which facilitates an international comparison of government policy efforts ...

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Germany Profits from Growth in Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa: But for How Much Longer?

Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa-the BRICS-show high overall economic growth rates by international standards. Even during the recent economic crisis, most BRICS countries still recorded above-average growth. This development has benefited German foreign trade in particular. This applies especially to automotive and mechanical engineering. However, this geographical reorientation of German ...

Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises are Catching up: Seven Questions to Alexander Eickelpasch

Research-Based Companies Perform Better

The past ten years have seen an expansion in industrial research. There has been a significant increase in the number of research-based companies, as well as in employment in research and development, and in expenditure in this area. Growth has been observed predominantly in companies in less research-intensive sectors and in small and medium-sized enterprises. Consequently, over the last decade, industrial ...

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Unemployment in Europe: Young People Affected Much Harder Than Adults

The crises of the past few years have led to a significant increase in youth unemployment in Europe. This, in turn, has highlighted the long standing phenomenon of well above average youth unemployment. In some countries, the youth unemployment rate reached unprecedented levels, although the rise of unemployment among young people was no more significant than among adults. Furthermore, the media portrayal ...

Spreading the Risk: Nine Questions to Claudia Kemfert and Dorothea Schäfer

Financing the Energy Transition in Times of Financial Market Instability

One of the most pressing public priorities in Germany at present is how to organize the energy transition. However, the cost of stabilizing the financial sector as well as the fiscal pact and the debt brake mean that the government has limited financial resources. Consequently, the availability of private capital, whether in the form of equity or debt, is becoming a decisive factor in the success of ...

Ganzes Heft