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Dr. Thomas Obst
Senior Economist
Tel: +49 30 27877-135 Mail: obst@iwkoeln.de- Since 2019 at the IW
- Since 2021 Senior Economist for Foreign Business Cycles and Macroeconomic Modeling in the Themecluster global and regional markets
- Since 2019 Personal Assistant to the Director at the Institute of the German Economy
- Since 2018 Lectureship at the University of Siegen on Special Aspects of Plural Macroeconomics
- 2016-2019 Research Assistant (PostDoc) at the Chair of Economics at the Viadrina University in Frankfurt (Oder), Germany
- 2013-2016 PhD in Economics at the University of Greenwich, London on the topic "The interaction of income distribution and economic growth in the context of European Imbalances".
- 2011-2013 Master's degree in International Economics at the Berlin School of Economics and Law.
- Since 2021 Lectureship in Macroeconomics at the University of Applied Sciences in Pforzheim
- Research interests: International macroeconomics and economic governance, growth and distribution, business cycles, economic policy
IW Publications
Bardt, Hubertus/ Demary, Markus / Grömling, Michael / Hüther, Michael / Kauder, Björn / Obst, Thomas / Puls, Thomas / Schaefer, Thilo / Schäfer, Holger, 2022, IW-Konjunkturprognose Winter 2022. Konjunktur in der Grauzone, IW-Report, Nr. 67, Berlin / Köln
Zur Studie
Grömling, Michael / Koenen, Michelle / Kunath, Gero / Obst, Thomas / Parthie, Sandra, 2022, AIECE General Report Autumn 2022 Part I, IW-Report, Nr. 65, Köln / Berlin / Brüssel
Zur Studie
Kunath, Gero / Matthes, Jürgen / Obst, Thomas, 2022, Biden’s economic agenda risks mid-term elections. An analysis of Biden’s economic agenda and its effects on the American econo-my, IW-Report, Nr. 59, Köln / Berlin
Zur Studie
Koenen, Michelle / Kunath, Gero / Obst, Thomas, 2022, Europa an der Schwelle zur Rezession?, IW-Report, Nr. 40, Berlin
Zur Studie
Kolev, Galina / Obst, Thomas, 2022, Global value chains of the EU member states. Policy options in the current debate, IW-Report, Nr. 4, Köln / Berlin
Zur Studie
Bardt, Hubertus / Demary, Markus / Grömling, Michael / Hentze, Tobias / Hüther, Michael / Obst, Thomas / Pimpertz, Jochen / Schaefer, Thilo / Schäfer, Holger, 2021, IW-Konjunkturprognose Winter 2021. Produktionsstörungen, Preiseffekte und Pandemie-Politik, in: IW-Trends, 48. Jg., Nr. 4, Köln / Berlin
Zur Studie
Diermeier, Matthias / Hüther, Michael / Obst, Thomas, 2021, Wunsch und Wirklichkeit: Kaum Ausgabenspielräume in der neuen Legislaturperiode. Zwischen Schuldenbremse und Steuererhöhungen, IW-Report, Nr. 33, Köln / Berlin
Zur Studie
Bardt, Hubertus / Diermeier, Matthias / Grömling, Michael / Hüther, Michael / Obst, Thomas, 2021, Lieferengpässe und Preisentwicklungen bei Rohstoffen und Vorleistungen. Corona Echo Effekte oder ‚here to stay’?, IW-Report, Nr. 27, Köln / Berlin
Zur Studie
Obst, Thomas / Schläger, Dan, 2021, Kosten-Nutzen Überlegungen zu Lockdowns – was übersehen wir?. Kosten-Nutzen Überlegungen zu Lockdowns, IW-Kurzbericht, Nr. 33, Berlin
Zur Studie
Hüther, Michael / Jung, Markos / Obst, Thomas, 2021, Chancen für Wachstum und Konsolidierung. Arbeitskräftepotenziale der deutschen Wirtschaft, IW-Policy Paper, Nr. 10, Köln
Zur Studie
External Publications
Obst, Thomas, 2021, Dynamic version of Okun’s law in the EU15 countries. The role of delays in the unemployment‐output nexus, in: Scottish Journal of Political Economy
Zur Studie
Obst, T., Onaran, O. and Nikolaidi, M. (2019): The effects of income distribution and fiscal policy on growth, investment and the budget balance: the case of Europe. Cambridge Journal of Economics, (in Veröffentlichung).
Onaran, O., Obst, T. (2016): Wage-led growth in the EU15 member-states. The effects of income distribution on growth, investment, trade balance and inflation. In: Cambridge Journal of Economics 40 (6), 1517–1551.
Stadtmann, G., Obst, T. (2017): Fiskalpolitik und Fiskalmultiplikator, Beitrag, in: Das Wirtschaftsstudium 46 (8-9), 979–983.
More from Dr. Thomas Obst

AIECE General Report Autumn 2022 - Part I
Private households, companies and governments in Europe are facing enormous challenges. First, far-reach-ing transformations in economic life are on the horizon for the current decade and beyond. Demographic developments are exacerbating the shortages of skilled workers that already exist in many economies and reinforcing the associated obstacles to production.
IW

Biden’s economic agenda risks mid-term elections
President Joe Biden faces some political and economic headwinds in the upcoming U.S. midterm elections this year. Current economic challenges include historically high inflation rates and signs of an impending recession.
IW

Europe on the brink of recession?
The European Union is facing one of its biggest crises since the financial crisis of 2008. The pandemic started in 2020 and led to a historical economic downturn in the second quarter of that year.
IW

Global value chains of the EU member states: Policy options in the current debate
In 2020, EU companies imported intermediate products worth 2.4 trillion euros, which made up more than half of total merchandise imports of the EU. Compared to the pre-crisis year 2019, imports of intermediates decreased by 13 percent, partly driven by the lower fuel prices.
IW
Dynamic version of Okun’s law in the EU15 countries: The role of delays in the unemployment‐output nexus
This paper estimates Okun's law in the EU15 countries between 1980 and 2018. It employs different versions with a focus on the dynamic part of the short-run relationship.
IW

IW Economic Forecast Winter 2021: Disrupted Production, Price Rises and Pandemic Policies
In the course of 2021 Germany’s economic recovery has once again perceptibly lost momentum. After the strain brought about at the beginning of the year by the lockdown for the second and third waves of the Covid19 pandemic, manufacturing and construction companies are now struggling with a shortage of materials, while higher prices for fossil fuels are imposing an additional burden.
IW

Desire and reality: Hardly any scope for public spending in the new legislative period
The 2021 election campaign for the German Bundestag reveals various demands on the federal budget over the next years. In the coming legislative period, for example, the federal budget may have to finance the "mothers' pension", take over the EEG levy, compensate for an increase in the social security contribution rate above the predefined threshold of 40 per cent, forego the revenues from the remaining "solidarity surcharge" and shoulder a higher defence budget. Some potential coalition partners, however, reject a reform of the debt brake and at the same time even promise significant tax cuts.
IW

Supply bottlenecks and price developments for raw materials and inputs
Having experienced strict economic lockdowns, the post-pandemic period various sectors report severe supply side bottlenecks and price increases for intermediate goods.
IW

Cost-benefit considerations of lockdowns – what are we missing?
A cross-country comparison shows similar behavioural adaptations of individuals despite different degrees of stringency of the respective lockdown in place. In Germany, during the first lockdown in spring 2020 mobility fell by 45 percent, while in Sweden it also decreased by 27 percent during the same period. A comprehensive cost-benefit analysis is crucial to better evaluate the efficacy of lockdowns and implied trade-offs.
IW

Workforce potential of the German economy
Germany’s labour market faces substantial challenges caused by demographic change in the next decade. Looking back over the last 10 years we observe a key role regarding of a successful labour market integration leading to higher employment rates and fostering economic growth.
IW