Deutschlands Wirtschaft, seine Schulden und die Unzulänglichkeiten der einheitlichen Geldpolitik im Eurosystem

-- In 2004, Germany became Europe’s ‘king of debt’ in absolute figures, thereby leaving behind even Italy, for decades the bearer of this awkward title. However, Germany’s rising public debt is not due to loose fiscal policy but the result of the common monetary policy in European Monetary Union (EMU). While Germany has the lowest rate of inflation in EMU, it has to pay the same nominal rate of interest as its competitors, that is, it has to shoulder the by far highest real rate of interest. This in turn has led to economic stagnation, with decreasing tax revenues and, in spite of huge efforts to reduce public expenditures, rising debts. As Germany is still the biggest economy in Europe, its stagnation has decisively contributed to EMU’s slow economic growth. According to the authors, the not so pleasant state of Euroland is due to the fact that EMU is not an ‘optimal currency area’ (Robert Mundell). EMU does not fulfil one of the most important criteria for optimality: the absence of tremendous differences between its member countries’ real rates of interest. In the paper, several measures of how to overcome the German problem are discussed, especially how to reconstruct the Eurosystem, the decentralised central banking system of EMU, to allow for a differentiated monetary policy, with high (low) nominal rates of interest for high (low) inflation countries. Drawing on a proposal by Erik Lindahl in 1930, this would mean to re-establish the European Central Bank (ECB) as the central monetary authority in the Eurosystem, with the monopoly to issue money. In spite of its name, the ECB is not a bank of issue, not to speak of being a lender of last resort, but only a co-ordinating agent between the Council of Governors of the Eurosystem, the decisive institution for monetary policy in EMU, and the twelve national central banks who alone issue the Euro. An alternative proposal discussed is to assign to the strongest central bank in the Eurosystem, the Bundesbank, the role of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York in the Federal Reserve System, thereby transforming the Eurosystem into a European Reserve System of Federal States. However, the strengthening of the ECB, or the Bundesbank, needs the support of a central fiscal authority in EMU, a role which today’s EG Commission in Brussels cannot shoulder : it disposes only of a tiny amount of EMU’s aggregate tax revenues. The authors are aware of the political difficulties to re-organise the Eurosystem. However, if politicians shy away from such a reform, the only option for solving Germany’s stagnation should be to leave EMU.

Europas 'Schuldenkönig' und sein Realzins

Deutschland verzeichnet mittlerweile absolut gerechnet die höchste Staatsschuld innerhalb der EU und hat damit das ehemalige Weichwährungsland Italien überholt. Gleichzeitig hat Deutschland die höchsten Realzinsen zu verzeichnen. Welche Rolle spielt bei dieser Entwicklung die Europäische Währungsunion? Sollte das Eurosystem geändert werden? Ist eine Reform durchzusetzen? --

Zur Verbreitung der Arten der Formica rufa Linnaeus-Gruppe. I. Häufigkeit, geographische Verteilung und Vorzugsstandorte der Roten Waldameisen im Gebiet der Deutschen Demokratischen Republik (Hymenoptera: Formicidae).

In den Wäldern der Deutschen Demokratischen Republik sind folgende hügelbauenden Formica-Arten verbreitet: F. polyctena Foerster, F. rufa Linnaeus, F. pratensis Retzius, F. truncorum Fabricius, F. (Raptiformica) sanguinea Latreille und F. (Coptoformica) exsecta Nylander. Mit einer durchschnittlichen Dichte von nur 2,5-5,8 Nestern pro 100 ha Waldfläche ist der Ameisennestbestand im allgemeinen sehr gering. Etwa 50% der Ameisenvölker gehören zur Art F. polyctena. Für die wichtigsten Arten werden Angaben über bevorzugte Landschaften, Biotope und Standorte, über ökologische Ansprüche und über biologische Eigenschaften gegeben.The following hill-building species of Formica are to be found in the woods of the German Democratic Republic: F. polyctena Foerster, F. rufa Linnaeus, F. pratensis Retzius, F. truncorum Fabricius, F. (Raptiformica) sanguinea Latreille and F. (Coptoformica) exsecta Nylander. With an average density of only 2.5 to 5.8 nests per 100 hectares wooded area, the ant population is in general rather thin. About half of the colonies belong to the species F. polyctena. Data about favourite regions, biotopes and habitats, about ecological requirements and biological properties are given for some of the most important species

A Rare Location of Metastasis from Prostate Cancer: Hydronephrosis Associated with Ureteral Metastasis

Prostate carcinoma is a very rare origin of metastatic disease in the ureter. We report a case of a 74-year-old man who presented in November 2008 initially with flank pain and lower urinary tract symptoms. Diagnostic investigation revealed a skeletal metastasizing prostate carcinoma, and the cause for the flank pain was a hydronephrosis due to ureteral metastasis diagnosed by biopsy. Antihormonal treatment led to disappearance of the hydronephrosis; however, further progress finally ended in acute liver failure with patient's death in July 2010

On state-alternating context-free grammars

AbstractState-alternating context-free grammars are introduced, and the language classes obtained from them are compared to the classes of the Chomsky hierarchy as well as to some well-known complexity classes. In particular, state-alternating context-free grammars are compared to alternating context-free grammars (Theoret. Comput. Sci. 67 (1989) 75–85) and to alternating pushdown automata. Further, various derivation strategies are considered, and their influence on the expressive power of (state-) alternating context-free grammars is investigated

Zur Verbreitung der Arten der Formica rufa Linnaeus-Gruppe. II. Die hügelbauenden Formica-Arten in der Sozialistischen Republik Rumänien (Hymenoptera: Formicidae).

In 68 Sammelgebieten in Rumänien wurde die Artenzusammensetzung der hügelbauenden Waldameisen festgestellt. Es dominiert stark die Artengruppe Formica pratensis Retzius, F. nigricans Emery, F. polyctena Foerster und F. rufa Linnaeus finden sich ebenso wie F. truncorum Fabricius mit geringer Nestzahl in mittleren Gebirgslagen. In den Hochgebirgen wird vorwiegend die auch in allen anderen Waldlandschaften vorkommende F.(Raptiformica) sanguinea Latreille angetroffen, F. lugubris Zetterstedt und F. aquilonia Yarrow fehlen. Von F. (Coptoformica) exsecta Nylander wurde ein Vorkommen entdeckt.The hill-building wood-ants from 68 collecting-places in Roumania were determined. The species-group of Formica pratensis Retzius, F. nigricans Emery strongly predominated. F. polyctena Foerster and F. rufa Linnaeus as well as F. truncorum Fabricius are to be found in a small number of nests in the middle altitude of the mountains. In the high mountains F. (Raptiformica) sanguinea Latreille prevails, which is found in all other wood districts too. F. lugubris Zetterstedt and F. aquilonia Yarrow are absent. F. (Coptoformica) exsecta Nylander was discovered only in one place