First Impressions of French Apprenticeships
As part of the AGI site visit tour, my colleagues and I spent our first day in Paris getting an in-depth view of the French apprenticeship system. We started off at …
Post-Soviet Apprenticeship
After the hustle and bustle of the capital city, our train passed through the countryside. Small family farms with goats abutted a busy railway. Our destination also lay in between …
The French Challenge
The French government recently announced that the age of austerity is finally over—at least for France. That it will now disregard most of its commitments on reducing fiscal deficits represents …
ECB Turning into a “Bad Bank”? Nonsense
Adequate ECB Policy Reduces Risks For five years, many German academics and the mass media have warned that the unconventional policies of the European Central Bank (ECB) would lead to …
Life after Merkel?
A well-known German comedian once sang a song about the state of Thüringen decrying the Land’s apparent anonymity. “Thüringen,” bemoaned Rainald Grebe, “is a Land that David Bowie once flew …
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Support Our WorkNew EU Commission
“Your objective is to make Europe a world leader in information and communication technology, with all the tools to succeed in the global digital economy and society. […] To do …
October 3: Lessons for the Future of Europe
This week Germany again marks its anniversary of formal unification on October 3. Next month, on November 9, we will remember how the division of Germany ended, seeing dramatic pictures …
Central Banks’ Diverging Paths Equals a Weaker Euro
The latest monetary decisions made by the U.S. Federal Reserve (Fed) and the European Central Bank (ECB) are keeping analysts very busy. The two key questions central bank watchers are grappling …
Labor Mobility
How mobile are workers in the euro currency area? Everyone directly or indirectly involved in devising, designing, and implementing the single European currency had to deal with this question in …
2009 and 2014: Reflections
Time flies. I am struck by how recent the events of the twentieth anniversary of the Mauerfall feel. A rainy, but magical, memory. At first blush, 2009 seems a more …
After the Wall: Survivors’ Expectations
There were many expectations when the Wall came down. Not least among them that Holocaust survivors living in Eastern Europe would finally receive payments from Germany for their suffering. But …
