Managing the Crisis by Manfred J.M. Neumann

Wirtschaftskrise; Finanzmarktkrise; Krisenmanagement

Seigniorage in the United States: how much does the U.S. government make from money production?

Coinage ; Money

The Information Content of German Discount Rate Changes

Discount rate changes always receive considerable attention in financial markets. Two hypotheses compete to explain financial market reactions: the direct ‘borrowing cost effect’ and the announcement effect. This paper examines the issue for the Bundesbank’s discount rate changes after 1979. Summing up we find that market reactions cannot be attributed to a direct borrowing cost effect but exclusively to announcement effects. The empirical results indicate that interest rates react to changes in the discount rate to the extent that they are unanticipated. In contrast, the response to anticipated changes in the discount rate is small and insignificant. We proxy market anticipations by a multinomial logit-model combined with a dummy variable capturing non-quantifiable factors reported by the financial press. Moreover, we show that the response of interest rates declines along the term structure and with the switch to greater emphasis on repurchase operations in early 1985.discount rate, Bundesbank, announcement effects

If Another Gas Dispute Breaks out between the Ukraine and Russia, Would Europe Now Be Equipped to Deal with It?

In January 2009, the supply of natural gas from Russia via the Ukrainian pipeline system was interrupted for nearly two weeks. Particularly the countries in Southeastern Europe were ill-prepared for such an event. Disputes regarding both the payment of natural gas supplies and transit rights between Russia and Ukraine have recently flared up again, which gives rise to the question of whether the EU is now better prepared if a similar scenario to that of January 2009 were to happen again. A number of measures have been introduced since the beginning of the year aiming to overcome any delivery shortfalls, but only a few of them have actually already been implemented, e.g. the creation of technical requirements to reverse the flow of natural gas. Therefore, supply shortages in some Southeastern European countries can not be fully excluded.Natural gas, Gas storage, Security of supply

Does inflation targeting matter?

This paper studies the inflation and interest rate performances since the late 1970s for six former highinflation countries that adopted inflation targeting (IT) in the early 1990’s. Using Germany, Switzerland and the US for comparison, we look at various aspects of central bank performance in a pre-IT period (1978-92) and a post-IT period (1993-01). The results of all types of evidence considered uniformly lead to the general conclusion that IT has proven a useful strategy for reducing the level and volatility of inflation. However, IT central banks did not outperform the central banks used as reference cases during the second period. We then present an event study of monetary policy comparing inflation and interest rate developments after the 1978 and the 1998 oil price shocks. Here we find that IT central banks realized significantly larger gains in credibility than the central banks in the reference group. . This result corroborates the conclusion that IT is a useful framework for communicating a monetary policy strategy aiming at low inflation rates. --

Flächendeckender Mindestlohn: Ordnungspolitischer Sündenfall par excellence

Mindestlohn, Niedriglohn, Arbeitsplatz, Beschäftigungseffekt, Schwarzarbeit, Schattenwirtschaft, Ordnungspolitik, Arbeitslosigkeit, Arbeitsmarkt, Reform, Dumping, Arbeitnehmer, Armut, Humankapital, Arbeitsangebot, Sozialstaat, Deutschland

Grundlegende Reform des Finanzierungssystems der EU - Reform der Finanzierung der Europäischen Gemeinschaft

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Öffnung der Medienordnung? - Für eine offene Medienordnung

Der Wissenschaftliche Beirat bei Bundesministerium für Wirtschaft und Technologie hat sich in seinem jüngsten Gutachten für eine offene Medienordnung ausgesprochen. Sollte der Rundfunkmarkt grundlegend dereguliert und der Wettbewerb von Hörfunk und Fernsehen durch das Kartellrecht geschützt werden? --

Korporatismus - eine Gefahr für die marktwirtschaftliche Ordnung

In seinem kürzlich vorgelegten Gutachten hat sich der wissenschaftliche Beirat beim Bundesministerium für Wirtschaft und Technologie vor allem mit dem Korporatismus in Form von Konsensgesprächen zwischen Regierung und Verbänden kritisch auseinandergesetzt. Prof. Dr. Manfred J. M. Neumann gibt eine Zusammenfassung des Gutachtens --