Wirtschaftspolitik

Caused by pent-up demand and intense supply disruptions, inflation has risen to its highest level in decades. As the specter of “entrenched inflation” looms, central banks must use monetary policy sensibly without overreacting. Central banks should allow time for overheated demand and supply disruptions to ease, lest the world’s advanced economies face their hardest landing yet.

The COVID-19 pandemic has demonstrated how the German political and economic model has outperformed the United States’ model. Having followed a coordinated approach, applying lessons learned from the 2008 Global Financial Crisis, Germany was much better equipped to counter the fallout of the COVID-19 crisis than the US. The US should use the German experience to shape its own approach going forward and apply policy shifts that can support US citizens.

The US is in a trade war with China, fueled by President Trump’s belief that tariffs will bring manufacturing jobs back to the US. Trump’s misguided view of trade is rooted in the past and ignores the position of the US dollar as the leading currency of exchange. As China works toward achieving global technological leadership, the US is fighting a war on the wrong front.  

Renting, repairing and redistributing instead of hyper-consumption and ownership-the sharing economy seems to revolutionize market capitalism. But can the sharing economy really be a sustainable alternative to market capitalism and create a new socio-economic system for the 21st century? Or is it just another neoliberal experiment in disguise, creating ever more powerful platform owners and disempowered workers? 

The German start-up landscape currently lacks international competitiveness. Existing legislation makes it difficult for start-ups to attract and retain highly skilled workers without taking on a large financial burden. Revising the regulatory framework for employee stock option plans could help solve this issue.

Economic theory is due for a shakeup. After the forty-year dominance of the neoliberal paradigm, it is time for academics and policymakers to once again ask the question: what does success really look like? The economics of wellbeing might provide an answer.