24 May 2011
Differing methods of calculation explain recent discrepancies between OECD/DIW Berlin poverty figures
According to recent estimates by DIW Berlin, children and young adults were the group most severely affected by poverty in Germany in the year 2009. DIW Berlin rejects claims that it manipulated or withheld statistical data on poverty. “These accusations are false,” said Gert G. Wagner, Chairman of the DIW Berlin Executive Board. “To the contrary: we have actively raised the issue that our improved calculation methods result in changes in the poverty statistics.” This has been confirmed in recent news reports and in the official findings of a parliamentary inquiry released by the federal government (BT-Drucksache No. 17/4332).
4 February 2011
Board of Trustees will decide on personnel proposals on 11 February
Rearrangement of the management structure at DIW Berlin: Gert G. Wagner is to serve as the new Chairman of the Executive Board. The Chairman of the Board of Trustees, Bert Rürup, will propose the Head of the Socio-Economic Panel (SOEP) at DIW Berlin to the Board of Trustees on 11 February. Gert Wagner is supposed to take up the position until the evaluation and the appointment procedure for a new president have ended. Together with Gert Wagner, Georg Weizsäcker will help the Executive Board to lead the forthcoming evaluation of the institute in 2012 to a success.
1 February 2011
Statement of the Chairman of the Board of Trustees of DIW Berlin, Bert Rürup
The scientific work of DIW Berlin and its role in providing policy-advice have to be shifted back again into the centre of public awareness. Contrary to public criticism, which has been immoderate in many cases, DIW Berlin still is one of the leading economic research institutes in Germany and beyond.
28 September 2010
Experts claim no space for tax cuts and higher social spending
The German economy has recovered surprisingly well from the crisis. DIW Berlin estimates that the growth will continue – although in a less rapid pace than the first half year. “We reach a massive annual growth of 3.4 percent in 2010. In 2011 the German economy is expected to grow at a rate of 2 percent”, said Ferdinand Fichtner, Head of the new cross-sectional group on economic policy at DIW Berlin. “The strong growth also reduces the government deficit”, said Mr. Fichtner, “Nevertheless, the government should continue its austerity measures instead of wasting tax money.”
23 September 2010
The Board of Trustees of DIW Berlin has made a number of decisions in a special meeting. First of all, an adjustment of the articles was decided, reinforcing the Trustees’ right to information and participation on the one hand, and emphasizing the cooperative responsibility of the Executive Board on the other.
30 June 2010
DIW President Zimmermann: “Another opportunity missed at the G-20 summit in Canada.”
The German economy will grow at a moderate pace through 2010 and 2011. According to the quarterly forecast released today by the German Institute for Economic Research (DIW Berlin), the German economy will grow with an average rate of 1.9 percent in 2010, and 1.7 percent in 2011. “The recovery is gaining momentum, but the engine of growth is once again foreign demand,” says DIW President Klaus F. Zimmermann.
14 June 2010
Banks should diversify their investment portfolios, European think tanks urge
European banks should develop more strongly diversified international investment portfolios. This would substantially reduce the risk of contagion in financial market crises, economists have urged. Their findings are included in a policy brief published today by FINESS, an EU-wide research consortium, led by DIW Berlin, the German Institute of Economic Research.
14 April 2010
DIW President, Klaus F. Zimmermann: „Fiscal consolidation is on top of the agenda.”
The German economy is expected to show moderate growth for 2010 and 2011. According to the DIW economic outlook, GDP will increase by 1.7 in 2010 and by 1.8 percent in 2011. “We recover from the crisis. However, with respect to financial markets, high uncertainties remain.” said DIW President, Klaus F. Zimmermann. After the acute crisis management, economic policy has to move back to a more sustainable path: “The biggest challenge will be related to the consolidation of public finances, as the burden of debt has risen enormously.”
11 November 2009
A new research center devoted to the evaluation of climate policies opens today in Berlin. The center is a branch of the Climate Policy Initiative (CPI), an international research organization currently being established by George Soros. The Berlin center is the first to be up and running; addi-tional centers are planned for Peking, New Delhi, Rio de Janeiro, and Ven-ice. Housed within DIW Berlin, a leading German economics research in-stitute, the center will collaborate closely with the institute’s resident economists.
9 February 2009
Tilman Brück, Head of the Department of International Economics at the German Institute for Economic Research (DIW Berlin) has been awarded the "IAP Award for Young Scientists 2008". The prize is awarded jointly by the InterAcademy Panel (IAP) and TWAS, the academy of sciences for the developing world.
5 November 2008
Restoring the credibility of the global economic system is the key to overcoming the current financial crisis. "Throughout the election campaign President Barack Obama has shown economic competence and trustworthiness. He can contribute greatly to restoring trust in our market economy," said DIW President Klaus F. Zimmermann in Washington, where he observed the U.S. elections.
4 March 2008
On February 22 2008 the collaborative research project “FINANCIAL SYSTEMS, EFFICIENCY AND STIMULATION OF SUSTAINABLE GROWH” (FINESS) was launched with a kick-off meeting at DIW Berlin. The project is funded by the 7th Framework Programme of the European Commission within the Activity 8.1 “Growth, Employment and Competitiveness in a Knowledge Society – The European Case”. The main purpose of FINESS is to get a clear understanding of the implications of ongoing financial market integration in Europe on economic growth, employment and competitiveness, to identify likely future paths of the development and to draw policy relevant conclusions.
23 October 2007
A new economic research institute, DIW DC, is now operating in Washington. The company in the nation’s capital is a non-profit, independent research organization involved in socio-economic educational and research activities and policy advice. It provides U.S. policymakers with economic expertise on Germany and Europe while promoting the transatlantic dialogue on issues of economic research and policy.
29 September 2007
In the context of the major caveat of high uncertainty, we forecast the economic expansion in the Euro Area to remain strong in the second half of 2007 bringing growth for the full year to 2.7 per cent and we expect it to slow moderately in 2008 and 2009 to around 2 ¼ per cent.
7 May 2007
In future, DIW Berlin will be represented in the biennial Tax Estimate Study Group by financial expert Holger Bonin. The new tax estimator is one of the leading experts in the estimation of fiscal sustainability using generational accounting. In his academic work, Holger Bonin devotes himself to the empirical study of matters of current economic policy. Among other things, he has studied the long-term development of pension fund finances, the opportunities for the revival of the low-wage sector by fiscal measures and the effects of employment protection in Germany. In addition to his research, Bonin is regularly involved with academic advisory projects for the government. Dr Bonin received his doctorate under Prof. Raffelhüschen who holds the Chair of Public Finance at Freiburg University. In addition to various other tasks, he is currently heading the department of Innovation, Manufacturing, Service at DIW Berlin.
29 March 2007
The EUROFRAME – European Forecasting Network comprises ten of the most respected economic forecasting and research institutes in Europe, including DIW Berlin. On behalf of the European Commission, it produces bi-annual reports on the Euro Area covering economic forecasts, regular policy monitoring and special policy topics.
Today sees the launch of the network’s report for Spring 2007. Among the findings contained in the report are the following:
GDP growth in the Euro Area was 2.8 percent in 2006. This was higher than had been anticipated for much of 2006 and is well above the growth rates of recent years.
For 2007, the network expects GDP growth in the Euro Area of 2.5 percent. For 2008, we expect the growth rate to be 2.2 percent. The reasons for the marginal slowdown between 2006 and 2007/08 include the following:
The growth rate in the US is expected to fall from 3.3 percent in 2006 to 2.4 percent in 2007 and to 2.3 percent in 2008;
An appreciation of the euro relative to the dollar is expected, in response to diverging interest rate paths and the large and on-going current account deficit in the US;
The ECB is expected to raise its key interest rate again in 2007, although only one further increase is expected;
Restrictive budget policies are expected to remain in place in many Euro Area countries as governments continue to deal with fiscal deficits.
Inflation in the Euro Area is expected to fall to 1.8 percent in 2007, partly in response to lower energy prices and despite the increase in VAT in Germany. In 2008, inflation is forecast to rise slightly to 2 per cent.
The improvement in the economic environment in the Euro Area has been reflected in the labour market and this is expected to continue. The rate of unemployment is expected to fall to 7.2 percent in 2007 and to 6.8 percent in 2008. The improving labour market is expected to contribute to an increase in consumption, with growth rates of 2.1 percent an
5 March 2007
The Head of the “Energy, Transportation, Environment” Department at DIW Berlin and Professor of Environmental Economics at Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, Prof. Dr. Claudia Kemfert, has been appointed as a member of the “High Level Group on Energy” of the EU Commission. The President of the EU Commission, José Manuel Barroso, has been able to find well-known experts in the field of energy and climate protection for this Group in Europe.
19 October 2006
In the autumn of 2006 the upswing in the world economy continues although it has slowed down somewhat during the course of the year. The main reason is the weaker economic growth in the United States and to a lesser extent in Japan. This was not offset by an acceleration of the expansion in the euro area and in the United Kingdom. In the emerging economies the increase in output remained strong, growing again more robus-tly in China in the first half of the year but slowing overall in the other emerging econo-mies of East Asia. The differences in the growth dynamics among the industrialized countries are due to the economies being at different stages of the economic cycle. Raw material prices continued to increase strongly in the first months of 2006, also due to the robust world economic activity. Higher prices on the raw material markets were passed on to consumer prices; labour costs increased moderately, on the whole, in the industri-alized countries. The expansion of the world economy will weaken somewhat in the forecast period, but will remain strong in a longer-term comparison. On the whole, real world GDP – as defined by the Joint Analysis – will increase by 3.1% in 2006 and by 3.7% in 2007. World trade will expand this year by 8.5% and by a good 7% in 2007. Price increases will weaken somewhat.
19 October 2006
In the autumn of 2006 the upswing in the world economy continues although it has slowed down somewhat during the course of the year. The main reason is the weaker economic growth in the United States and to a lesser extent in Japan. This was not offset by an acceleration of the expansion in the euro area and in the United Kingdom. In the emerging economies the increase in output remained strong, growing again more robus-tly in China in the first half of the year but slowing overall in the other emerging econo-mies of East Asia. The differences in the growth dynamics among the industrialized countries are due to the economies being at different stages of the economic cycle. Raw material prices continued to increase strongly in the first months of 2006, also due to the robust world economic activity. Higher prices on the raw material markets were passed on to consumer prices; labour costs increased moderately, on the whole, in the industri-alized countries. The expansion of the world economy will weaken somewhat in the forecast period, but will remain strong in a longer-term comparison. On the whole, real world GDP – as defined by the Joint Analysis – will increase by 3.1% in 2006 and by 3.7% in 2007. World trade will expand this year by 8.5% and by a good 7% in 2007. Price increases will weaken somewhat.
25 September 2006
On August 1, 2006, the German Institute for Economic Research Berlin (DIW Berlin) became a member of the Berlin Partner GmbH Science and Research network. With around 200 staff members, making it the largest economic research institute in Germany, DIW Berlin has a major input into national economic issues. Its work is based on applied economic research and the application of its research to political decision-making, business and public institutions at national, European and international level. The Institute presents its research findings to different target groups in its own publications, in specialist magazines, and at organized events. Its work is also widely reported in the media.
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