IW-Kurzberichte

Short specialist publications on topical issues

Hubertus Bardt ·
IW-Kurzbericht Nr. 43 ·
16 July 2019

Space Economy

It has now been 50 years since Apollo 11 landed on the moon. On 20 July 1969 (21 July German time), Neil Armstrong and Edwin “Buzz” Aldrin became the first people to land on the moon. It marked a decisive victory in the space race between the United States and the Soviet Union.

Sonja Jovicic / Galina Kolev ·
IW-Kurzbericht Nr. 37 ·
12 June 2019

The influence of public investment on the German current account surplus

The current account surplus in Germany has grown rapidly especially since the early 2000s and this development has been widely criticised. One of the recommendations of the European Commission and other institutions is to increase public investment as a means to reduce the current account surplus. Indeed, Germany needs a broad investment programme in the field of infrastructure, digitalisation and education, and considering the low interest rate there cannot be better times for it.

Martin Beznoska / Tobias Hentze ·
IW-Kurzbericht Nr. 31 ·
20 May 2019

The Unanimity rule and corporate tax revenue in the EU

Politicians accuse corporations of sneakily shifting their profits to tax havens. In fact, tax revenues in low-tax countries such as Ireland and Malta have risen sharply over the past 20 years. However, revenue growth in large countries like Germany and France is not slow. Interestingly, EU countries which favor the unanimity rule in tax issues show higher growth rates in tax revenue than countries preferring a qualified majority system.

Sandra Parthie / Wolfgang Eichert / Karl Thies ·
IW-Kurzbericht Nr. 81 ·
21 December 2018

„Fixing the roof while the sun is shining”

EU Member States used the economic upturn of recent years to implement reforms to a different extent. The Eurozone countries focused on demand-sided measures, whereas the Visegrád countries mostly chose supply-sided reforms. Within both of these groups a great deal of heterogeneity can be observed regarding the implementation of structural reforms aimed at increasing their long-term growth potential.

Matthias Diermeier / Michael Hüther / Markos Jung ·
IW-Kurzbericht Nr. 33 ·
11 June 2018

It’s business models, stupid!

In contrast to a massive current account deficit against China, the US runs a current account surplus with respect to the European Union. The US-EU surplus is largely driven by a positive service balance and primary incomes originating from US investments abroad. Services and primary incomes overcompensate the US goods trade deficit with the EU. Rather than representing a “rip–off”, the different balances reflect the economies’ different business models.

Matthias Diermeier / Markos Jung / Pekka Sagner ·
IW-Kurzbericht Nr. 30 ·
18 May 2018

Regional growth: Economic crisis slows European convergence

Up until the economic and financial crisis, economic conditions in the European regions had been converging. This process has come to a complete standstill in recent years due to lower growth in Eastern Europe and stagnation in Southern Europe.

Adriana Neligan ·
IW-Kurzbericht Nr. 28 ·
18 April 2018

2025 recycling target: Only 10 EU countries on track

Two years after adopting the Circular Economy Package, EU institutions finally agreed on new EU waste rules. Despite lower recycling targets as originally envisaged, most countries still have to push recycling to meet the goals. A single method of determining recycling rates was also decided, but an exemption will continue to allow for disparate recycling rates.

Markus Demary / Michael Voigtländer ·
IW-Kurzbericht Nr. 24 ·
3 April 2018

Safe Asset Shortage by Regulation

Banks have changed their asset allocation. While the number of loans to non-financial corporations on their balance sheets is slowly growing after a period of deleveraging, banks’ demand for Euro-area sovereign bonds is still accelerating. The high demand for safe and liquid assets is not only driven by risk aversion and liquidity preferences, it is also a side effect of financial regulation.

Markus Demary / Christian Rusche ·
IW-Kurzbericht Nr. 4 ·
8 January 2018

Strengthened competition in payment services

Starting on January 13, 2018, the Second Payment Services Directive (PSD2) will apply in the European Union. Among other things, the Directive’s aim is to adapt regulation to the innovations in payment services and to promote the Single Market for non-cash payments. However, PSD2 will only strengthen competition between payment services under a common standard for the access to banking accounts.

Galina Kolev ·
IW-Kurzbericht Nr. 3 ·
5 January 2018

An EU comparison: The structure of consumer spending

The purchasing power of EU consumers varies considerably. This is also reflected by the structure of households’ expenditure. The share of food in consumer spending is highest in Romania, one of the countries with the lowest per capita income. On the other hand, the top earner, Luxembourg, has the highest expenditure share compared to the rest of the EU for transport and especially for the purchase of motor vehicles.