Essays & News

  Until only a few months ago, inflation dominated the headlines and monopolized the attention of the financial press. Ordinary consumers and savers were extremely worried about its impact on their household budgets and shrinking paychecks. These concerns appear to have somewhat eased now that official consumer price index (CPI) data is on a downward […]

  Murphy’s law says: “Anything that can go wrong will go wrong.” The German government gave proof last week of this adage. The so-called traffic-light coalition headed by German Chancellor Olaf Scholz did not miss an opportunity to become ridiculous in its behavior concerning the war in Ukraine. Mr. Scholz has now managed this in the political […]

  First, the rule of law is also – or even foremost – about people.   Douglas North, Nobelpreisträger der ökonomischen Theorie und überzeugter Liberaler, dachte viel über Institutionen nach. Institutionen sind die «Spielregeln» einer Gruppe: des Markts, der Gemeinschaft, der Gesellschaft oder des Staates. Spielregeln können entstehen und sich als Konvention etablieren – etwa, […]

  While the climate crisis has long been regarded as a significant threat, prompting trillions of dollars of investment in the green economy, Europe now faces another pressing concern: the threat of war. At the moment, this looming specter originates primarily from Russia, yet the continent is also grappling with challenges emanating from developments and conflicts to its […]

  The eurozone’s two largest countries, France and Germany, could drag the continent into a crisis. The year 2023 was bad for eurozone economies already, with sluggish overall growth a meager 0.6 percent. While short-term factors such as inflation and the necessarily tighter monetary policy can explain the latest developments, longer-term forces, especially in Germany and […]