Auswirkungen des neuen Erneuerbare-Energien-Gesetzes auf Offshore-Wind-Investitionen

The German Renewable Energy Sources Act (EEG) has burdened private and industrial consumers with record electricity costs. Consequently, Energy and Economics Minister Gabriel pushed reform through cabinet on 8 April 2014 to curtail revenue guarantees to investors and to cut costs. The revenue guarantee reductions, most notably of one cent per kilowatt hour in the “Stauchungsmodell”, bring investor returns down to 9.8 per cent, i.e. into the region of the financing costs faced by investing energy companies. If investors stay away from offshore wind power due to marginal economics, the scale benefits in investment and ongoing production costs of an estimated 30 per cent may jeopardise the original intended cost reduction.     

Reform des IWF

Ohne Zusammenfassung     

Zur Vereinheitlichung des Rentenrechts

More than 25 years after German unification, public pensions in East and West Germany are still calculated on the basis of different legally defined variables. This leads to unequal treatments, which are increasingly perceived as inappropriate. All proposals for a unified pension law have certain disadvantages, however. There is no solution which will satisfy all stakeholders. Still, the proposal of the German Council of Economic Experts, outlined and updated in this paper, has several advantages compared to others.     

Folgen des schwachen Dollar

Ohne Zusammenfassung Carsten Hefeker ist Inhaber des Lehrstuhls für Europ?ische Wirtschaftspolitik der Universit?t Siegen     

Determinanten des deutschen Kreditzinsniveaus

Seit Mitte der 90er Jahre liegt das deutsche Kreditzinsniveau über dem Durchschnitt der EWU. Worauf ist diese Entwicklung zurückzuführen? Sind die deutschen Banken weniger effizient? Liegt der Zinsunterschied an den hohen Refinanzierungskosten? Gibt es in Deutschland mehr Kreditausf?lle, oder sch?tzen die deutschen Banken die Risiken realistischer ein? Dr. Stefan Sch?fer, 34, und Christian Weistroffer, 30, Dipl.-Wirtschaftsingenieur, arbeiten im Referat Banken, Finanzm?rkte und Regulierung von Deutsche Bank Research; Christian Weistroffer forscht au?erdem am Center for Financial Studies, Frankfurt am Main. * Der Beitrag gibt die Meinung der beiden Autoren, aber nicht unbedingt diejenige des Center for Financial Studies oder von Deutsche Bank Research wieder.     

Irrweg des bedingungslosen Grundeinkommens

The discussion about the unconditional basic income (UBI) is receiving increased attention as a number of countries are considering or already experimenting with such schemes. Advocates argue that it is egalitarian, liberal, individualistic and economically sensible. However, this article argues that the UBI does not fulfil any of these four criteria. On the contrary, the introduction of a UBI would lead to less freedom and autonomy for many individuals. An employment account or some other flexible benefit account, which would give individuals more autonomy over their use of public services, are much better ways of ensuring a secure income and creating opportunities for individual citizens.     

Zur Beitragsfinanzierung des Kurzarbeitergeldes

The stability of the German labour market despite a 5.1% decrease in GDP in 2009 has been described as the German job miracle. A contributing factor was the political decision to prolong the length of eligibility for short-time working benefits. Short-time working benefits are part of the unemployment insurance, which means that all employers and employees have to contribute. Nevertheless, short-time working benefits are predominantly used by large corporations in the industrial sector and their highly skilled employees. This article therefore asks whether the funding by collected contributions is justifiable or whether short-time working benefits should be paid for by taxes, if at all.     

Ökonomisierung des Bildungswesens

Ohne Zusammenfassung     

Die langen Schatten des Krieges

Zusammenfasung  Re-Traumatisierungen in der Pflege alter Menschen — Der Tod der Mutter, der Verlust von Heimat und Geborgenheit, Bombardierungen und andere Gewalterfahrungen – die h?ufig verdr?ngten Kriegserlebnisse aus der Kindheit k?nnen im Alter wieder hochkommen. Geschichtliche Kenntnisse und ein sensibler Umgang mit re-traumatisierten Menschen sind eine Voraussetzung, um solche Situationen nicht eskalieren zu lassen.     

Am Puls des deutschen Wohnimmobilienmarktes

In its recent history, Germany has faced many serious economic crises. Remarkably, these crises all had a completely different impact on local housing markets. Some crises occurred at the national level, while others only took place at the regional level. Interestingly some crises were seemingly unnoticed by the German housing market. Hence, the question arises why the German housing market reacted differently to these crises and to what extent economic policy decisions were involved.