Looking forward to what is intended as a starting point for embracing European financial leverage and resilience of its financial architecture.

Wir sollten wirklich anfangen den Begriff "Brandmauer" zu vermeiden. Er hat in der Brandmauer-Diskussion ein diffuses Eigenleben angenommen als unklare Chiffre. Es lässt sich so leicht gegen die Brandmauer argumentieren, weil man nicht sagen muss was man aktiv will: Zusammenarbeit mit Rechtsextremen

New Institute working paper looks at the chain from credit to firms to workers. From Christian Moser (@economoser.bsky.social), Farzad Saidi (@farzado.bsky.social), Benjamin Wirth, and Stefanie Wolter: https://bit.ly/4u2yCT0

Germany is the epicentre of the China Shock 2.0 reverberating in global markets In a new joint paper, CFR's Brad Setser and I show the shock is a key driver of Germany’s economic malaise. And it's accelerating Berlin needs to stop admiring the problem, and join efforts to fight back 1/many

"We have reached a point where the decisions Europe must take can no longer be contained within the institutional framework we have inherited." In the speech he gave on the occasion of receiving the Charlemagne prize, Mario #Draghi endorses variable geometry. geopolitique.eu/en/2026/05/1...

The rise of the American corporate gerontocracy ft.trib.al/dgGKnqr

Average CEO age at appointment has risen sharply over recent decades. Rising uncertainty & economic complexity increase demand for generalist human capital, prompting firms to prioritise accumulated experience. @vkecht.bsky.social, A Lizzeri, @farzado.bsky.social cepr.org/voxeu/column... #EconSky

Monopsony power makes productive firms decide to stay small, hurting aggregate productivity. More strongly size-dependent wages in East Germany explain a third of the difference to the West. New paper by Bachmann, Bayer, Stüber, and Wellschmied www.restud.com/monopsony-ma...

Why has CEO age increased so much? Thank you also to Bloomberg for covering our paper: www.bloomberg.com/news/article...

Given the obvious returns, one would think that the German government is passionately discussing investments in childcare and early education. The bitter reality is that they don’t, even in the face of stagnation.

Warum ändert selbst gutgemeinte Politik so wenig an der Arbeitsteilung? @manongarcia.bsky.social liefert die Antwort: Soziale Normen machen Unterwerfung zur rationalen Entscheidung -- und sie beugen sich keinem politischen Instrumentarium. www.zeit.de/familie/2026...

I use em-dashes and Oxford commas. And I will continue to do so long after LLMs have stopped because vendors trained them away from these constructions so they sound less like AI

In April 1991, Gopher system was created at the University of Minnesota as a text-based system that used the hierarchical menu structure for navigation. #InternetHistory

That might have been a valid running hypothesis before incel TikTokers became the delegated asset managers of the the manosphere’s bitcoin portfolio…

The best and brightest young people from around the world are getting the message: Reconsider investing your talents in the United States. Cumulative issuance of F-1 student visas by calendar month, down circa 32% as of September (latest available) Source: travel.state.gov/content/trav...

The fiscal constraints are forcing Germany to confront its 20th century tax and social insurance system for married couples. First to be phased out: the free health and care insurance for the non-working spouse. Looooong overdue. www.capital.de/wirtschaft-p...

No more excuses. Even if the returns are still unevenly distributed, AI tools let you be both: a present parent and a highly productive professional living up to your work ethic, at least if your job typically involves staring at a screen. #AI #Productivity #WorkLifeBalance #Parenting #FutureOfWork

Plagiarism detection on 500k publicized Chinese dissertations uncovers widespread hidden misconduct that predicts adverse political selection and poorer civil service performance, from Zhuang Liu, Wenwei Peng, and Shaoda Wang www.nber.org/papers/w34747

Gestern stellten Dr. Tobias Herbst und Niko Plennis @bundesbank.de in einer ECONtribute Public Lecture den diesjährigen Finanzstabilitätsbericht vor. Vielen Dank an die Referenten, an Cluster-Mitglied @farzado.bsky.social für die Moderation und an das Publikum für die spannende Diskussion!

Amazing study showing that deactivating social media improved mental health. [It has so many coauthors that the sample size was sufficient to run the RCT on themselves.]

Come join us!

I will be sending this email a lot this year. Feel free to tell me it's problematic, but I've had it with students who don't show up and expect me to be in their corner.

I was on a German panel last night, where *every speaker* had strong French links (study etc). And every speaker expressed massive dismay over the state of Franco-German defence-industrial cooperation. How can we not get this right?!

Join us @unibonn.bsky.social! The finance group within the economics department is looking to hire an assistant professor (tenure track): econjobmarket.org/positions/11...

Euro zone manufacturing expanded for first time since early 2022 in August, PMI shows reut.rs/3UVp11o

@vicbar.bsky.social @ralphdehaas.bsky.social @paulinegrosjean.bsky.social & I Matavelli show that adherence to masculinity norms strongly predicts men's labour supply, risk-taking, health behaviours, and support for authoritarian leadership. cepr.org/voxeu/column... #EconSky

Our explanation: they are generalists, and that skill set is in high demand given high industry uncertainty. Generalists are good at curbing volatility, but tend to be old unless they come from a consulting background. Consultant CEOs‘ young age may thus be a contributing factor to firm growth.

Läuft ja super mit der Bekämpfung der AfD durch die "Migrationswende", die ja angeblich die "Mutter aller Probleme" anpackt.

Homebuyers and economists alike closely watch indicators for changes in home prices. How do policies that expand access to credit affect those prices? Our article from Ken Cowles explores the research from @mokuhn.bsky.social, @farzado.bsky.social, and Tobias Herbst:  bit.ly/4czY9vR

[email protected] & IfW Kiel are jointly 🚨 recruiting a Professor of International Economics🚨 (Associate/Full). 👉 apply.interfolio.com/169770 Great opportunity to join Berlin's thriving econ community. No kings here. Deadline: Sep 30, 2025 Please share widely! #EconSky

Very pleased that our local projections dif-in-dif paper is now out in the Journal of Applied Econometrics. Joint with @dgirardi.bsky.social, Jorda, and Taylor. It's a tool that we think many applied economists will find useful (indeed many already have). 🧵

Eurovision is over, but this is still a good read: “In the end, even as Eurovision is officially a nonpolitical event, everyone knows it’s really geopolitics in drag.” foreignpolicy.com/2025/05/23/e...

Our Cluster of Excellence secured a second funding period today. As one of the PIs, in magnificent company, I am extremely happy that our efforts especially towards the final stage of the reapplication process paid off. Numerous meetings, retreats, and flights taken have contributed to a unique…

A landmark success! The University of Bonn secured funding for all six existing Clusters of Excellence and both new initiatives – more than any other German university. More: www.uni-bonn.de/en/news/095-... © G. Hübl, V. Lannert, M. Thürbach/ECONtribute, J. F. Saba/UKB, S. Wegener/ML4Q; N. Wietrich

This is bleak reading

New article from Kenneth Cowles explores research from @mokuhn.bsky.social, @farzado.bsky.social, and Tobias Herbst that explains how an expansion of credit in the form of expanded eligibility for VA loans contributed to increases in home prices. bit.ly/4czY9vR

"I'm going to govern in econometrics" is a winning campaign slogan for the ages.

📢 Save the date! The 4th Kiel-CEPR Conference on Geoeconomics takes place this October—this time in Paris 🇫🇷. Thanks to #ScPoEcon @sciencespo.bsky.social for hosting—it’s going to be another great one! 📜 Call for papers coming soon. Stay tuned for more info 👉 www.ifw-kiel.de/institute/ev...

„Merz und Söder trieben durch geschürte Empörung ganz bewusst die Leute gegen die Ampelregierung auf die Bäume – und bekommen sie nun, da in den Koalitionsverhandlungen doch wieder schwierige Kompromisse gefragt waren, nicht mehr herunter.“ (@puettmann.bsky.social) www.blaetter.de/ausgabe/2025...

NSF director to resign amid grant terminations, job cuts, and controversy www.science.org/content/arti...

Homebuyers and economists alike closely watch indicators for changes in home prices. How do policies that expand access to credit affect those prices? New article from Ken Cowles explores the research from @mokuhn.bsky.social, @farzado.bsky.social, and Tobias Herbst:  bit.ly/4czY9vR

In 1991, eligibility criteria for VA loans were relaxed, providing a natural experiment to study what happens to house prices when the supply of credit expands. Our new article looks at research from @mokuhn.bsky.social, @farzado.bsky.social, and Tobias Herbst:  bit.ly/4czY9vR

Daniel Brühl hat mich gerade beim Jogging-Endspurt angelächelt. Euer Sonntag kann einpacken!

With Universities Threatened, Can Boston Still Be Boston? "Colleges and teaching hospitals are the cornerstones of the city’s economy — and identity. But federal funding cuts to higher education could change that." www.nytimes.com/2025/04/06/u...

That’s my Boston — always strong!

Hier nochmal in ruhiger, schriftlicher Form, was ich am Donnerstag bei #Illner gesagt habe: Die baldige Koalition sollte sich darauf fokussieren, das Fiskalpaket zu einer erfolgreichen Wachstumsagenda zu machen und von rein konsumtiven Mehrausgaben absehen. www.zdf.de/nachrichten/...

📢 Tune in: In about 40 minutes, @schularick.bsky.social will discuss Germany's new path of fiscal expansion in the areas of defense and infrastructure with @kschake.bsky.social and @adamposen.bsky.social @piie.com 👇 www.piie.com/events/2025/...

Bullish Germany. "The ZEW Indicator of Economic Sentiment, a monthly gauge that tracks the expectations of analysts at around 150 financial institutions jumped 25.6 points on month to 51.6 in March, reaching its highest level since February 2022, ahead of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine."

Welcome to debt brake d-day. Germany is quick to adjust to the new global order and is doing so in force. @davideoneglia.bsky.social shows the package outstrips the spending booms that came with the postwar Marshall Plan and with German Reunification in the early 1990s.