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Is a Greek bond buyback really as daft as some economists suggest?
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European leaders are toying with the idea of buying back Greek debt on the market. At first sight, the idea might look charmful: Greek bonds are currently being traded with huge discounts. If you spend one euro, you can buy … Continue reading...
Why the Euro crisis is the key to a stronger Europe
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This essay originally appeared in the first issue of “TLQ – The Digital Magazine For Thought Leaders” in September. After I finished the piece in late August, Mario Draghi announced the ECB’s OMT bond buying programme, anti-...
Bank of England’s Haldane on the crisis of economics: “Our models are no longer working properly”
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Andrew Haldane is the Bank of England’s Executive Director for Financial Stability. I recently talked to him about the crisis of contemporary economics and the way forward. You are vocal critic of mainstream macro economics. How does this squar...
Excessive austerity doesn’t pay, IMF economists show
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It is probably one of the most important trips in Greece’s modern history. On Friday, the new Greek prime minister Antonis Samaras will travel to Berlin and ask the German chancellor Angela Merkel for more time. His stricken country, he …...
UK regulator on the future of banking: “The costs of doing business will be higher”
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I recently interviewed Paul Sharma, Director of Policy at the Financial Services Authorities for Germany’s Handelsblatt. Among other things, we talked about the Libor scandal, the cultural change in the financial industry and the new toughnes...
Why there’s more in Draghi’s may-day speech than markets realise
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At first sight, Mario Draghi’s performance on Thursday was an utter disappointment. As expected, he held out the prospect of future bond purchases by the ECB. However, he did not mention any amounts, dates or interest rate target. For the ̷...
A black day for the Olympics and cycling in London
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Yesterday was a fantastic day for cycling in Britain. In the afternoon, after an astonishing performance in the time trial, Bradley Wiggins won the Gold medal while his Team GB mate Chris Froome got Bronze. (Wiggos views on road safety are barmy, how...
Going to the Olympics? Get on your bike!
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Cycling campaigners and influential bloggers have rightly lambasted the organisers of the Olympic Games for not caring enough about the needs of people wanting to cycle to the venues. Especially the closure of the canal footpaths in the proximity of...
How the Velib compares to the Boris Bike – a personal account
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I recently was in Paris for a couple of days. I pootled around in the city using Velibs, the French cousin of the Boris Bike. The French scheme has just celebrated its fifths anniversary. Since I used both schemes, I thought a subjective comparison...
Top-flight German business prof faces severe accusations of academic misconduct
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One of the most successful German business professors is currently facing awkward questions about his scientific conduct. Ulrich Lichtenthaler, who is affiliated with the University of Mannheim, has come under suspicion of inflating his publication r...
Killed by friendly fire? The Euro zone, banks and Draghi’s “Big Bertha”
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The Big Bertha was one of the largest cannons of its time, manufactured by Krupp. Germany nevertheless lost the First World War. The same might be true for the ECB and its version of the “Big Bertha”. In December and … Continue reading U...
An economic explanation of Bayern’s failure
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Yesterday’s Champions League final has not only been very embarrassing for Bayern Munich. When Bastian Schweinsteiger missed his penalty, I also met my Waterloo. I had predicted earlier that Bayern would beat Chelsea because they were structura...
The Economics of Success – Why Bayern Munich will beat Chelsea
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I’m neither a supporter of Bayern Munich nor of Chelsea FC. In Germany, I fiercely support the team from the city I was born. Here in England I support the one that plays in the district where I live. Hence, … Continue reading →...
Editors of leading Finance journals condemn coerced citations
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In February, a study about coerced citations in academic journals made headlines. Allen W. Wilhite and Eric A. Fong (both: The University of Alabama, Huntsville) revealed that editors frequently and deliberately force researchers to quote articles th...
University of Zurich: Forced retirement for Bruno Frey
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After all, the University of Zurich gets tough against Bruno Frey. The faculty has decided to force him into retirement. The current contract with Bruno Frey, which is going to run out at the end of July 2012, will not … Continue reading →...
An interview with Amartya Sen: “There is a democratic failure in Europe”
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Starting this Thursday, the third annual meeting of the Institute for New Economic Thinking (INET) is going to take place in Berlin. Prior to the meeting, my colleague Dorit Heß and I had the opportunity to interview the Nobel laureate … C...
Self-plagiarism: Bruno Frey gets away with a slap on the wrist
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The University of Zurich has finally closed its investigation into the academic conduct of Bruno Frey, who has been accused of prolific self-plagiarism. The economist is getting away with a slap on the wrist. In a single case, he was … Continue...
The Bundesbank and Target2 – the about-face that wasn’t
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It appeared like a stunning about-face. Earlier this month, press reports suggested that Bundesbank president Jens Weidmann was deeply worried about the imbalances in the Target2 payment system of the Euro area. According to these reports, in a lette...
Bundesbank’s Weidmann on the origin and meaning of the Target2 balances
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A couple of days ago, Jens Weidmann, the President of Deutsche Bundesbank, published an op-ed about the ”origin and meaning of the Target2 balances” in Germany’s “Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung” and the Dutch daily &#...
Cycling in London: What the Yanks can teach us
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The safety of cycling in the UK has become a hot topic recently. Even the parliament discussed the dangers for cyclists. This debate was triggered by an impressive campaign “The Times” has launched several weeks ago entitled “Cities fit for cyc...
