AGI

Geoeconomics

The AGI Geoeconomics Program promotes original thinking and debate on U.S., German, and EU global economic strategy with a focus on ways that trade, climate, financial, and technology policies can advance their shared interests, prosperity, and values.
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Europe’s Lehman Moment

How did Europe get into the financial crisis it is currently facing? In his article entitled Europe’s Lehman Moment, Jeffry A. Frieden, Professor of Government at Harvard University and AICGS event speaker, seeks to explain the history behind the fiscal issues in Europe and what may happen if a solution is not found.

“If the Greeks just did their Homework…”

In his essay entitled “If the Greeks just did their Homework…,” DAAD/AICGS current fellow Benjamin Herborth explains that beneath the current turmoil over internal divisions in the German governing coalition regarding a position on the Greek debt crisis lies yet another problem. Taken for granted on both sides of the division is a more assertive rhetoric, which belittles Greece, and thus complicates co-operative solutions.

Economic Impact of the Deutsche Börse-NYSE Euronext Merger on the EuropeanFinancial Markets

As the eurozone crisis continues to build, the possible ramifications for the U.S. of a European economic disaster, such as a Greek default, are taking center stage. While political rifts have been exposed at the hands of the crisis, so has the depth of financial interdependence between both sides of the Atlantic. A recent report on the financial impacts of the Deutsche Börse-NYSE Euronext exchange merger by Prof. Dr. Henrik Enderlein, Associate Dean and Professor of Political Economy at the Hertie School of Governance and a frequent participant at AICGS programs, shows that the overall financial stability of the U.S. and Europe are deeply interconnected, as is their standing in the global markets.

The Euro Widens the Culture Gap

In his piece entitled “The Euro Widens the Culture Gap” from the New York Times, AICGS board member Josef Joffe explains how the Euro has made worse any cultural differences that existed between European countries pre-euro times. The PIIGS countries – Portugal, Ireland, Italy, Greece, and Spain – should never have been admitted to the Euro, argues Joffe. Now, the borrowing afforded to them by the Euro allowed them to continue their profligate ways, thus leading to the current crisis facing the euro-zone as a whole.

Euro Stabilization: problems, eurobonds, political union perspectives

The EU Summit of 21 July 2011 has brought considerable adjustment impulses for the stabilization of the euro-zone. At first sight, the main problem is sovereign debt financing of Greece, Ireland, and Portugal—the three countries that benefit from euro-zone rescue packages—but, in fact, the bigger issue is a series of broader challenges for EU integration and institutional reforms in the euro-area.

All Eyes on Berlin

With the euro-zone fully entrenched in economic crisis, Europe’s leaders are scrambling to avoid contagion reaching some of the area’s largest economies, notably France and Italy. With the measures taken thus far having failed to calm market nerves, the focus will be shifting to Germany and its Chancellor, Angela Merkel, to lead the euro-zone back to greener pastures, according to AICGS Non-Resident Fellows Dr. Norbert Walter, Dr. Paul J.J. Welfens, and Dr. Klaus Deutsch, as well as frequent AICGS contributor Alexander Privitera.

Transatlantic Relations in an Age of Fiscal Austerity

Issue Brief 40 Prior to the economic and financial crisis that began in 2008, the fiscal challenges of both Europe and the U.S. largely were viewed as longer-term issues, associated …

The Digital Society

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A Continent, Sinking

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Europeans Expecting German Leadership

As the euro saga unfolds, one thing is becoming clearer: The structure surrounding the euro has its weaknesses, but the crisis is not really about the currency at all. The current crisis is as much a crisis of EU governance and political mentality as it is of the economic policies of Greece or the ECB, argues AICGS Trustee and former U.S. Ambassador to Germany John Kornblum. A version of this essay originally appeared in the June 20, 2011, edition of Handelsblatt.

The Nuclear Power Endgame in Germany

As the era of nuclear energy approaches its end in Germany, the country can show how fast the shift to renewable energy can be achieved, writes R. Andreas Kraemer, Director & CEO of the Ecologic Institute in Berlin and co-author of AICGS Policy Report 31. In an essay that examines the history of the German anti-nuclear power movement and discusses the future of German alternative energy, Kraemer argues that Germany can realistically achieve 100 percent reliance on renewable energy and be the model going forward for other nations in a relatively short time frame. A version of this article originally appeared in The San Francisco Chronicle.

Doha or Dada

Klaus Deutsch, Deutsche Bank Research, provides an analysis on the Doha Round in the World Trade Organization and what the consequences could be if the world’s major trading partners fail to reach any agreement before the talks will presumably end.