The socio-economic inequality that has been growing for some time now is poison for social cohesion and representative democracy. In order to break through the indifference that still prevails towards socio-economic inequality and make more equality possible, people must become aware that the future redistribution of wealth to those who created it is not just about achieving more social justice, but also about preserving social peace, preventing centrifugal tendencies and weakening anti-democratic forces.
{"title":"Ungleichheit – Gift für den gesellschaftlichen Zusammenhalt und für die repräsentative Demokratie","authors":"Christoph Butterwegge","doi":"10.2478/wd-2024-0119","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.2478/wd-2024-0119","url":null,"abstract":"\u0000 The socio-economic inequality that has been growing for some time now is poison for social cohesion and representative democracy. In order to break through the indifference that still prevails towards socio-economic inequality and make more equality possible, people must become aware that the future redistribution of wealth to those who created it is not just about achieving more social justice, but also about preserving social peace, preventing centrifugal tendencies and weakening anti-democratic forces.","PeriodicalId":35890,"journal":{"name":"Wirtschaftsdienst","volume":"113 11","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2024-07-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"141843734","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Deutsche Bahn: Politikversagen bei Governance?","authors":"T. Ehrmann, A. Prinz","doi":"10.2478/wd-2024-0115","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.2478/wd-2024-0115","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":35890,"journal":{"name":"Wirtschaftsdienst","volume":"31 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2024-07-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"141853928","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
This article outlines income and wealth distribution trends in Germany since the 19th century, compared to other Western industrialised countries. We first discuss the evolution of aggregate wealth-to-income ratios. We then explore how the concentration of income and wealth among the top percentile evolved since the 19th century. For the period after 1990, we analyse the entire distributions from top to bottom, exploring why Germany differs from France and the U.S. Among European countries, Germany exhibits one of the highest concentrations of income and wealth.
{"title":"Einkommens- und Vermögensverteilung in Deutschland","authors":"Charlotte Bartels, Theresa Neef","doi":"10.2478/wd-2024-0117","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.2478/wd-2024-0117","url":null,"abstract":"\u0000 This article outlines income and wealth distribution trends in Germany since the 19th century, compared to other Western industrialised countries. We first discuss the evolution of aggregate wealth-to-income ratios. We then explore how the concentration of income and wealth among the top percentile evolved since the 19th century. For the period after 1990, we analyse the entire distributions from top to bottom, exploring why Germany differs from France and the U.S. Among European countries, Germany exhibits one of the highest concentrations of income and wealth.","PeriodicalId":35890,"journal":{"name":"Wirtschaftsdienst","volume":"279 11","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2024-07-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"141839998","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
The green transition will affect different places in diverse ways, as place specific and contextual factors, such as pre-existing industrial specialisations, shape how transitions unfold in various territories. In the absence of a place-sensitive approach to decarbonisation, regional disparities are likely to intensify. This may make those who will be potentially hard hit reluctant to support policies necessary for reducing GHG-emissions. Research shows that populist parties that have been the most vocal opponents of climate policies in many countries can capitalize on this sentiment. Thus, investigating how both economic and political costs of the transition will be distributed regionally is key to crafting policies that make a just transition possible. By drawing on the findings of Südekum and Rademacher (2024), the text at hand discusses how the costs of the green transition are likely to be distributed among regions in Germany and what to do about it. It calls for a proactive approach to regional policy and outlines how Germany’s most important regional policy programme can be updated.
{"title":"Regionale Disparitäten in der Transformation: Braucht es ein Update der deutschen Regionalpolitik?","authors":"Jens Südekum, Daniel Posch","doi":"10.2478/wd-2024-0120","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.2478/wd-2024-0120","url":null,"abstract":"\u0000 The green transition will affect different places in diverse ways, as place specific and contextual factors, such as pre-existing industrial specialisations, shape how transitions unfold in various territories. In the absence of a place-sensitive approach to decarbonisation, regional disparities are likely to intensify. This may make those who will be potentially hard hit reluctant to support policies necessary for reducing GHG-emissions. Research shows that populist parties that have been the most vocal opponents of climate policies in many countries can capitalize on this sentiment. Thus, investigating how both economic and political costs of the transition will be distributed regionally is key to crafting policies that make a just transition possible. By drawing on the findings of Südekum and Rademacher (2024), the text at hand discusses how the costs of the green transition are likely to be distributed among regions in Germany and what to do about it. It calls for a proactive approach to regional policy and outlines how Germany’s most important regional policy programme can be updated.","PeriodicalId":35890,"journal":{"name":"Wirtschaftsdienst","volume":"27 5","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2024-07-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"141847913","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Geburtenraten: Vom Baby-Boom zum Baby-Bust","authors":"Monika Queisser","doi":"10.2478/wd-2024-0114","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.2478/wd-2024-0114","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":35890,"journal":{"name":"Wirtschaftsdienst","volume":"351 7","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2024-07-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"141839182","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Leo Mühlenweg, Peter Kaczmarczyk, Lukas Hornung, Nils Kleimeier
In the debate on the German debt brake, there is an emerging consensus in favour of reform. Most recently, Feld et al. (2024) attempted to refute the frequently voiced criticism that the debt brake hinders government investment. The synthetic control method used compares Germany’s actual investment activity with a synthetic “Germany without a debt brake”. This article attempts to address the methodological problems of the study by using the augmented synthetic control method, but irrespective of this extension, fundamentally questions the results in Feld et al. (2024).
{"title":"Die Schuldenbremse – ein Garant für nachhaltige Haushaltspolitik? Eine Replik auf Feld et al. (2024)","authors":"Leo Mühlenweg, Peter Kaczmarczyk, Lukas Hornung, Nils Kleimeier","doi":"10.2478/wd-2024-0122","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.2478/wd-2024-0122","url":null,"abstract":"\u0000 In the debate on the German debt brake, there is an emerging consensus in favour of reform. Most recently, Feld et al. (2024) attempted to refute the frequently voiced criticism that the debt brake hinders government investment. The synthetic control method used compares Germany’s actual investment activity with a synthetic “Germany without a debt brake”. This article attempts to address the methodological problems of the study by using the augmented synthetic control method, but irrespective of this extension, fundamentally questions the results in Feld et al. (2024).","PeriodicalId":35890,"journal":{"name":"Wirtschaftsdienst","volume":"83 6","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2024-07-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"141838375","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
By 2030, the EU wants to extract, process and recycle domestically at least 10%, 40% and 25% respectively of the strategic raw materials it consumes. No more than 65% of these rare resources should stem from a single third country. The CRM Act’s benchmarks are primarily to be achieved via financially supported strategic projects. In addition, the EU signed raw materials partnerships with nine countries to date. However, the self-reliance targets for raw materials such as rare earth metals seem unrealistic for technical and environmental reasons. Instead, the EU should enter into more partnerships with likeminded countries.
{"title":"Kritische Rohstoffe: Wie die EU ihre China-Abhängigkeit senken will","authors":"B. Kuhn","doi":"10.2478/wd-2024-0126","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.2478/wd-2024-0126","url":null,"abstract":"\u0000 By 2030, the EU wants to extract, process and recycle domestically at least 10%, 40% and 25% respectively of the strategic raw materials it consumes. No more than 65% of these rare resources should stem from a single third country. The CRM Act’s benchmarks are primarily to be achieved via financially supported strategic projects. In addition, the EU signed raw materials partnerships with nine countries to date. However, the self-reliance targets for raw materials such as rare earth metals seem unrealistic for technical and environmental reasons. Instead, the EU should enter into more partnerships with likeminded countries.","PeriodicalId":35890,"journal":{"name":"Wirtschaftsdienst","volume":"20 12","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2024-07-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"141848905","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
The following article shows that the objectives of the draft bill, which are being pursued with generation capital, namely the creation of foundation assets of 200 billion euros and annual distributions of 10 billion euros, are achieved without loan interest at a performance of 3.26%. If the foundation has to pay interest on the loan, the required performance increases, but the spread decreases steadily from the initial 3.26%. If the target distributions are to increase dynamically in the future, a performance of around 0.3 percentage points higher would be required as long as the federal government continues to grant loans. This performance appears to be realistically achievable in the long term. Nevertheless, its financial contribution is estimated to be low.
{"title":"Generationenkapital gleich Zockerkapital? – die implizite Ziel-Performance des Referentenentwurfs","authors":"Uwe Schätzlein","doi":"10.2478/wd-2024-0091","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.2478/wd-2024-0091","url":null,"abstract":"\u0000 The following article shows that the objectives of the draft bill, which are being pursued with generation capital, namely the creation of foundation assets of 200 billion euros and annual distributions of 10 billion euros, are achieved without loan interest at a performance of 3.26%. If the foundation has to pay interest on the loan, the required performance increases, but the spread decreases steadily from the initial 3.26%. If the target distributions are to increase dynamically in the future, a performance of around 0.3 percentage points higher would be required as long as the federal government continues to grant loans. This performance appears to be realistically achievable in the long term. Nevertheless, its financial contribution is estimated to be low.","PeriodicalId":35890,"journal":{"name":"Wirtschaftsdienst","volume":" 18","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2024-05-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"141131321","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Neues Klimaschutzgesetz: an die Realität angepasst","authors":"B. Hansjürgens","doi":"10.2478/wd-2024-0077","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.2478/wd-2024-0077","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":35890,"journal":{"name":"Wirtschaftsdienst","volume":"14 22","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2024-05-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"141137870","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}