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Stepping Over the Line: Schäuble Criticizes ECB

German finance minister Wolfgang Schäuble was forced by Jens Weidmann,  president of the powerful Bundesbank, to publicly state that he fully respects the independence of the European Central Bank (ECB) …

Transatlantic Traffic Jams

When the hundreds of government officials and international organization leaders make their way to Washington for the Spring Meetings of the IMF and the World Bank Group, an explosion of …

British Referendum Pains and the EU Implications of BREXIT

On 23 June 2016, should a majority of British voters decide to leave the EU—nearly forty-five years after joining the Community—the EU would lose 17 percent of its GDP and …

From the AGI Bookshelf: Germany’s Role in the Euro Crisis: Berlin’s Quest for a More Perfect Monetary Union

The subtitle of this book, written by a former Research Fellow at AGI, is “Berlin’s Quest for a More Perfect Monetary Union.” The author has reviewed Germany’s efforts to find …

Germany’s Outlook on Global Economic Growth

In an article in the International Business Times, AGI President Dr. Jack Janes weighs in on Germany’s role in and outlook toward global economic growth in advance of the G-20 …

International Spillover of EU Disintegration

The Western European message of the 1960s, 1970s, 1980s, and 1990s was fairly clear: More regional economic integration and the building of joint institutions is good for the European Union …

Shaken but Not Stirred?

On October 29, 2015, Dr. Andreas Dombret, Member of the Executive Board of the Deutsche Bundesbank and frequent participant and speaker in AGI programs, delivered a speech on the banking …

Germany and America

Taken as a whole, the 25 years following the fall of the Berlin Wall have in the West been an unquestioned success. Two parts of Germany merged hostile systems without drama or dangerous economic strain. To ensure that nationalism will not be reborn, the former Western Europe of the European Communities has expanded into a continent-wide Union of 28 democratic nations, some of which had not known true freedom in their entire histories.

Twenty-five Years of German Unity

When the reunification of Germany became a reality in 1990, it was also time for the forecasters to take center stage. How long would it take until the East German economy had shaken off the consequences of 40 years of communism? And how long would it take until living standards in eastern Germany matched those in western Germany? Views on such issues differed greatly. The optimists’ camp was led by the German chancellor, Helmut Kohl, who held out the imminent prospect of “blossoming landscapes” in economic terms for the five new federal states. The “Aufbau Ost” development program was expected to last around half a decade. It was not only politicians, but also some economists who believed that it might be possible to catch up that fast.

The Euro’s Savior?

In this study, Jörg Bibow, Professor of Economics at Skidmore College, assesses the ECB’s crisis management performance and potential for crisis resolution. Part of AGI’s focus on analysis of the euro crisis, the …

Pleasing and Appeasing Markets: A Fatal Attraction

Following the recent and ongoing turmoil in financial markets, largely triggered by the growing uncertainty about the health of the Chinese economy, financial investors have started to expect and demand …

Breakdown or Breakthrough?

The past few days have certainly been rich with dramatic twists and turns in the Greek drama. Nobody knows with certainty how the story will end—not the Greek politicians, the …