The Russian foreign exchange and financial market crisis of summer 1998 was caused by international movements of capital following the Asian crisis, and it plunged the Russian commercial banks into major difficulties. Practically the entire banking sector was hit by acute liquidity shortage. The main cause of the banking crisis must be seen in the banking sector regulation, which was defective if not ...
The long-term development in productivity in an economy is the main indicator in an assessment of the outlook for economic development. In theory, countries that lag behind the leading countries in productivity should gradually succeed in closing that gap. Since the mid-1990s the Federal Republic of Germany has not been able to continue the process of catching up with the trend in productivity in the ...
Expanding and modernizing the infrastructure is generally regarded as essential for East Germany to catch up with the west. The question concerning the quality and quantity of the infrastructure in East Germany played a central role in the negotiations for both Solidarity Pact I and Solidarity Pact II. However, while only very sparse information and estimates were available on the level of state fixed ...
The year 2004 saw Turkey take a big step forward to the European Union, as international investors also believe, and in December last year the European Council opened up real prospects of entry for Turkey for the first time. Agreement was also reached with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) on further support, chiefly to secure the servicing of public debt in the next few years. The consequences ...
At the beginning of this year (as at the beginning of every year), the Federal Statistical Office published its preliminary calculations regarding the most important aggregates in the German national accounts for the year 2004.2 The data presented in this report deviate from the official annual figures for 2004. The reason is that there are now more statistical data available regarding the final months ...
The upswing of the German economy continues and since the beginning of 2017, even at a somewhat faster pace. Sharp gains in employment are still driving consumption. And companies are investing significantly more in machines and facilities. Many global risks that previously limited the propensity to invest—in Germany and many other countries—have vanished. And the euro area is also finally feeling ...