Publikationen des Vorstandsbereichs

Making the Euro Area Fit for the Future

The crisis in the European currency area is not yet over. Although the situation in the financial markets is currently relatively calm, the economic crisis appears to be bottoming out in most countries. Nevertheless, there are still fundamental design flaws in the Monetary Union. If these are not fully addressed, it will only be a matter of time before a new crisis hits, and a partial or complete breakup ...

We Need to Give Impetus to the Private Sector: Six Questions to Marcel Fratzscher

An Investment Agenda for Europe

Only strong economic growth will help Europe emerge from its crisis. The reforms implemented to date at national and European level have failed to impact the economypositively; this is due to excessive national, corporate, and private debts, the flawed banking system, the lack of structural reforms, an insufficient institutional framework at European level, as well as a persisting climate of distrust ...

Weak Inflation and Threat of Deflation in the Euro Area: Limits of Conventional Monetary Policy

Inflation in the euro area has been below the European Central Bank's target for almost a year now and it is also expected to remain at a very low level in the near future. On the one hand, such a low level of inflation is not in line with the ECB's objective. On the other hand, there is the risk that this situation will lead to a slide into deflation. In view of the ECB's historically low policy rates, ...

Financial Sector: Upward Trend in Share of Women on Corporate Boards Progressing Only in Small Steps

Last year, more women were appointed to the executive boards of major financial institutions. The share of women on the executive boards of banks and savings banks at the end of 2013 was a good six percent, which represents an increase of almost two percentage points over the previous year. This increase is primarily attributable to changes at private financial institutions and cooperative banks. At ...

Public Companies Could Play a Pioneering Role: Six Questions to Elke Holst

Women Still the Exception on Executive Boards of Germany's Large Firms: Gradually Increasing Representation on Supervisory Boards

The trend toward more women on the corporate boards of German companies continued in 2013, albeit on a small scale. The share of women on the supervisory boards of the 200 largest companies increased by more than two percentage points, and thus at a somewhat higher rate than in recent years, to just over 15 percent. The corresponding share of women on executive boards virtually stagnated at a low level ...

TARGET Balances - An Anchor of Stability

The debate about TARGET2, the payment system of the European System of Central Banks (ESCB), has resulted in controversial discussions in Germany in recent years. The present study by DIW Berlin concludes that fears often expressed in this context of the risks to Germany are largely unfounded. Germany is - in contrast to what is often claimed - one the beneficiaries of the Target system. In particular, ...

Germany's Big Weakness is a Lack of Investment: Seven Questions to Marcel Fratzscher

More Growth through Higher Investment

While many countries in the euro area are deep in recession due to a debt and structural crisis, the German economy appears to have excelled compared to many other euro area countries. Unemployment has fallen to the lowest level since German reunification, economic output has grown by over eight percent since 2009, and public budgets have been consolidated, generating a surplus in 2012. But this is ...