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Peter Bofinger

Peter Bofinger is professor of economics at Würzburg University and a former member of the German Council of Economic Experts.

Peter Bofinger

Peter Bofinger is professor of economics at Würzburg University and a former member of the German Council of Economic Experts.

The role of public debt in the ‘new normal’

Peter Bofinger 13th February 2023

A Schumpeterian perspective provides new insights for fiscal policy in Europe, Peter Bofinger writes.

The digital euro: a flawed concept doomed to flop

Peter Bofinger 19th December 2022

Peter Bofinger argues that on the ‘digital euro’ the European Central Bank has dug itself into a hole it would do best to vacate.

A noble award for a ‘popular misconception’

Peter Bofinger 17th October 2022

Peter Bofinger questions last week’s award of a prestigious economics prize to an orthodox school which could not anticipate the 2008 crash.

Inflation: saving households from insolvency

Peter Bofinger 11th July 2022

Peter Bofinger argues that state guarantees of loans to households could cushion the price shock at negligible cost.

Return to positive interest rates requires a safety net

Peter Bofinger 9th May 2022

Peter Bofinger explains how inflation in the eurozone can be tempered without jeopardising recovery.

Taking the heat out of energy prices

Peter Bofinger 7th March 2022

Instead of higher interest rates, Peter Bofinger urges lower VAT on energy and temporary suspension of the CO2 trading system.  

The ECB needs a better narrative

Peter Bofinger 20th December 2021

Giving the public impression that inflation is ‘too low’, Peter Bofinger writes, is not a good look for the bank.

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

Peter Bofinger 25th October 2021

Peter Bofinger recognises the compromises necessary for a three-party government but regrets the lack of vision to face a decade of huge challenges.

ECB strategy review: the mountain has given birth to a mouse

Peter Bofinger 26th July 2021

Peter Bofinger argues that the ECB strategy review represents a missed opportunity.

It’s time to rewrite the macro­economic rulebook for the euro area

Peter Bofinger 31st May 2021

Peter Bofinger contends that the economic impact of the pandemic has rendered obsolete the old eurozone fiscal rules.

How to stimulate the economy after the lockdown

Peter Bofinger 5th April 2021

A ‘helicopter money’ stimulus of direct payments to individuals, as in the US, would be neither well targeted nor transformatory in Europe.

Bitcoin lacks a unique selling proposition

Peter Bofinger 8th February 2021

Peter Bofinger identifies the cryptocurrency’s Achilles heel.

Easing the EU fiscal straitjacket

Peter Bofinger 14th December 2020

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

Joe Biden should not miss the Bretton Woods moment

Peter Bofinger 9th November 2020

Peter Bofinger argues the incoming president must abjure the mercantilist language of his predecessor in favour of a progressive response to globalisation.

The ‘bazooka’: Modern Monetary Theory in action

Peter Bofinger 28th September 2020

Peter Bofinger argues that large-scale injections of money to bring economies out of the coronavirus coma have vindicated Modern Monetary Theory.

Minimum wage: a success story with scope for improvement

Peter Bofinger 20th July 2020

Peter Bofinger argues that regionally-differentiated minimum wages should be considered for the post-coronavirus period.

The Covid-19 crisis: inflationary or deflationary?

Peter Bofinger 15th June 2020

Peter Bofinger warns especially German inflation-phobes that deflation is a greater downside risk in the aftermath of the pandemic.

The ‘frugal four’ should save the European project

Peter Bofinger 4th May 2020

Peter Bofinger argues that additional loans of inadequate amount do not add up to a rescue package which can save Europe from the coronavirus crisis.

Coronavirus crisis: now is the hour of Modern Monetary Theory

Peter Bofinger 23rd March 2020

Peter Bofinger argues MMT provides intellectual justification for a ‘whatever it takes’ fiscal response to potentially the biggest global postwar economic challenge

‘Fridays for Keynesianism’

Peter Bofinger 17th February 2020

Keynes recognised the key role of the financial system in modern capitalist economies and Peter Bofinger argues the 2008 crisis must bring the demise of neoclassical economics—which still doesn’t.

Time is ripe for a new ECB strategy

Peter Bofinger 6th January 2020

It’s not so much that what the European Central Bank is doing is wrong as that it is not framing public understanding. The next ECB strategy, writes Peter Bofinger, should do so.

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