Skip to main content

Curated by Project Syndicate

Germany's Troubling Election

6 commentaries

The success of the far right and the end of Germany’s grand coalition government have introduced new uncertainties into the politics of Europe’s most powerful country. What are the main implications for Germany, the EU, and global affairs?

Sort by: Show:
  1. The Chimera of Franco-German Reform
    Jean-Claude Juncker delivers his State of the Union speech at the European Parliament Patrick Herzog/Getty Images

    The Chimera of Franco-German Reform

    Oct 4, 2017 Hans-Helmut Kotz warns the European Union's would-be reformers not to count on the support of Germany's next government.

  2. A Test for Europe’s German Anchor
    Angela Merkel takes her place on the government bench Sean Gallup/Getty Images

    A Test for Europe’s German Anchor

    Sep 26, 2017 Daniela Schwarzer notes that while the center held in Germany's federal election, the policy consensus is weakening.

  3. Europe’s Battle on Four Fronts
    Britain Brexit protest Justin Tallis/Getty Images

    Europe’s Battle on Four Fronts

    Sep 26, 2017 Anatole Kaletsky believes that the EU's survival requires simultaneous breakthroughs in Berlin, Brussels, London, and Paris.

  4. Germany’s Grave New World
    Angela Merkel Odd Andersen/Getty Images

    Germany’s Grave New World

    Sep 26, 2017 Joschka Fischer says the fate of Europe's most stable democracy and largest economy now hangs in the balance.

  5. Germany’s Weimar Ghosts
    A protestor holds a banner translating 'AFD Is Not An Alternative' Anadolu Agency/Getty Images

    Germany’s Weimar Ghosts

    Sep 25, 2017 Harold James argues that a stable European order may be the Federal Republic's strongest democratic bulwark in the coming years.

  6. Germany’s Economic Road Ahead
    A voter casts his ballot in early voting in German federal elections Sean Gallup/Getty Images

    Germany’s Economic Road Ahead

    Sep 25, 2017 Clemens Fuest highlights five major policy challenges that the new government will face in the coming years.

  1. rajan82_BRENDAN SMIALOWSKIPOOLAFP via Getty Images_jeromepowell Brendan Smialowski/Pool/AFP via Getty Images

    The Fed’s Role in the Bank Failures

    Raghuram G. Rajan & Viral V. Acharya

    There are four reasons to worry that the latest banking crisis could be systemic. For many years, periodic bouts of quantitative easing have expanded bank balance sheets and stuffed them with more uninsured deposits, making the banks increasingly vulnerable to changes in monetary policy and financial conditions.

    show how the US central bank's liquidity policies created the conditions for runs on uninsured deposits.
  2. velasco135_Nancy LaneMediaNews GroupBoston Herald via Getty Images_bank run Nancy Lane/MediaNews Group/Boston Herald via Getty Images

    Policymakers Keep Solving the Wrong Banking Problem

    Andrés Velasco

    When a bank fails, the first response by policymakers and the public is to blame risk-loving speculators, greedy investors, or regulators asleep at the wheel. But quenching our thirst for moral adjudication is a poor basis for policy, because the truth is both simpler and more troubling.

    argues that recent market turmoil has revealed that the sector’s main vulnerability is unavoidable.
  3. ito25_Chip SomodevillaGetty Images_yellen Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images

    An Insolvency Iceberg?

    Takatoshi Ito considers the risk that other banks will experience liquidity problems as interest rates continue to rise.
  4. skidelsky185_Wiktor SzymanowiczAnadolu Agency via Getty Images_jeremyhunt Wiktor Szymanowicz/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images

    Can Governments Still Steer the Economy?

    Robert Skidelsky explains why international finance and geopolitics make it harder to influence major performance indicators.
  5. sinn109_ DANIEL ROLANDAFP via Getty Images_financial crisis DANIEL ROLAND/AFP via Getty Images

    Accounting for Casino Capitalism

    Hans-Werner Sinn draws parallels between recent bank collapses and the late-nineteenth-century “founders’ crash.”
  6. zadek25_ FABRICE COFFRINIAFP via Getty Images_creditsuisseUBS Fabrice Coffrini/AFP via Getty Images

    Who Should Be Bailed Out Next?

    Simon Zadek urges rich-country governments to aid debt-distressed poor countries as urgently as they have their failing banks.
  7. callegari1_Getty Images_crowd population Getty Images

    The Population Boon

    Beniamino Callegari & Per Espen Stoknes correct popular myths about the threat of demographic growth to sustainable development.
  8. songwe8_NIPAH DENNISAFP via Getty Images_ghana NIPAH DENNIS/AFP via Getty Images

    Where Is the Global South’s Rescue Brigade?

    Vera Songwe decries the unequal responses to liquidity crises in Silicon Valley compared to the developing world.
  9. slaughter96_melitasGetty Images_cooperative melitas/Getty Images

    Beyond Industrial Policy

    Anne-Marie Slaughter & Elizabeth Garlow make the case for an economic strategy that prioritizes shared prosperity over competition.

Edit Newsletter Preferences

Set up Notification

To receive email updates regarding this {entity_type}, please enter your email below.

If you are not already registered, this will create a PS account for you. You should receive an activation email shortly.