Peter Bofinger from Würzburg – Authors profile, articles and posts

Economy and ecology | 04.09.2024

A cure for Europe’s financial woes?

European leaders are striving to reduce barriers to financial integration, yet the deeper challenge remains fragmented government bond markets

Economy and ecology | 25.03.2024

The ECB and inflation: a general fighting the last war

The eurozone is facing a hard transformation. ‘Normal’ interest rates are an important precondition for financing the investments to achieve this

Economy and ecology | 08.01.2024

The dumb man of Europe

The German economy has been chronically weak since 2022, and its recently announced austerity package is counterproductive in every respect

Economy and ecology | 11.10.2023

Germany’s true economic disease

In order to heal the country’s chronically sick economy, Germany must reconsider its unconditional faith in market forces

Economy and ecology | 21.06.2023

Has ECB President Lagarde become unstoppable?

The European Central Bank’s interest-rate rises hold serious risks for the economy and the euro. And its bad communication does not help the situation

Economy and ecology | 13.04.2023

The failure of Credit Suisse

While the bank was indeed mismanaged, its collapse also reveals a system of regulation with as many holes as a Swiss cheese

Economy and ecology | 13.02.2023

The role of public debt in the ‘new normal’

The Schumpeterian approach can be a basis for a fiscal policy shaped by the need to transform our economies to deal with future challenges

Work and digitalisation | 19.12.2022

The digital euro: a flawed concept doomed to flop

While there is an urgent need to develop a competitive European payment system, the idea that it must be based on a 'digital euro' is a [...]

Economy and ecology | 20.10.2022

A noble award for a ‘popular misconception’

It is hard to understand how the Swedish academy could decide to honour a theory unable to anticipate the Great Financial Crisis

Economy and ecology | 12.07.2022

Inflation: saving households from insolvency

The sharp price increases plaguing lower-income households could easily be cushioned through state guaranteed loans at a minimal risk

Economy and ecology | 16.05.2022

Return to positive interest rates requires a safety net

An interest hike could stifle the European economy. But inflation in the eurozone can be tempered without jeopardising recovery

Economy and ecology | 14.03.2022

Taking the heat out of energy prices

Rising energy prices and inflation are causing energy poverty in Europe. The EU should rethink carbon pricing and consider VAT relief

Economy and ecology | 03.01.2022

The ECB needs a better narrative

The ECB is facing the greatest challenge to its credibility to date. To gain public support, the bank needs to learn how to communicate its strategy

Future of social democracy | 26.10.2021

Germany’s coalition: green light or stuck on amber?

In Germany's coalition talks, the SPD, FDP, and Greens have agreed on key points. While some are necessary compromises, a real vision is lacking

European integration | 02.08.2021

The ECB strategy review is a missed opportunity

The ECB's recent review and pronouncements damage its public image — and risks turning public fear of inflation into a self-fulfilling prophecy

European integration | 07.06.2021

Reinvent the macroeconomic rulebook for the euro zone

The pandemic-induced economic shock has shown how the EU's fiscal and monetary rules are outdated and ineffective. It is time to rethink them

Economy and ecology | 07.04.2021

How to stimulate the economy after lockdown

A US-style ‘helicopter money’ stimulus of direct payments to individuals wouldn't be transformatory in Europe

Future of social democracy | 19.02.2021

Bitcoin lacks a unique selling proposition

Bitcoin’s Achilles heel is that it could be easily replaced by the around 8,000 other cryptocurrencies

European integration | 21.12.2020

How to ease the EU fiscal straitjacket

Without major reform of the EU fiscal framework, public investment will be insufficient in the wake of the pandemic

Future of social democracy | 09.11.2020

Joe Biden should not miss the Bretton Woods moment

The incoming president must abjure Trump's mercantilist language in favour of a progressive response to globalisation

Future of social democracy | 30.09.2020

The ‘bazooka’: Modern Monetary Theory in action

Large-scale injections of money to bring economies out of the coronavirus coma have vindicated Modern Monetary Theory

Global | 27.07.2020

Minimum wage: a success story with room for improvement

Why regionally-differentiated minimum wages should be considered for the post-coronavirus period

European integration | 11.05.2020

The ‘frugal four’ should save the European project

Peter Bofinger argues that additional loans do not add up to a rescue package which can save Europe from the corona crisis

Europe | 27.03.2020

Coronavirus crisis: now is the hour of Modern Monetary Theory

Economist Peter Bofinger argues that MMT justifies a European ‘whatever it takes’ fiscal response — including eurobonds

Global | 19.02.2020

Why we need ‘Fridays for Keynesianism’

Unlike neoclassical economics, Keynes recognised the key role of the financial system in modern capitalist economies

Global | 09.07.2019

Facebook’s Libra fails the Hayek test

Facebook’s proposed cryptocurrency would be highly risky for holders and a giant enrichment programme for the company

Europe | 05.06.2019

Made in Europe

Europe needs a common industrial policy to carry out the ecological transition — and compete with China

Europe | 06.03.2019

Time for a red shift from Germany’s ‘black zero’

For a decade, there has been cross-party support for the balanced-budget rule. Time to break with it and invest in the future

Peter Bofinger

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