Inhalt
IN FOCUS / 2017-06-08
Overall economic equilibrium: 50th anniversary of the Magic Square
50 years ago, on 8 June 1967, the Law to Promote Economic Stability and Growth (Stability Law) entered into force. Against the background of the 1966/1967 recession, it concretises the goal of an overall economic equilibrium and specifies four individual goals of economic and fiscal policy. They are referred to as the Magic Square.
In the last 50 years, the German economic development has been subject to short-term fluctuations. When measured by the development of the price-adjusted GDP, the German economy has grown an average 2.4% since 1967. Such growth has been characterised by cyclical upswings and recessions. The worst economic slump happened during the worldwide financial market crisis in 2009 (-5.9%). The strongest economic growth was recorded in 1969, when the growth rate was 7.5%.
More information on the economic development in Germany is contained in a detailed article on the Magic Square.
New brochure "G20 in figures" published
This year Germany holds the G20 presidency and will be hosting the G20 summit in Hamburg on the 7th and 8th of July. The G20 includes 19 leading industrialized and emerging economies as well as the European Union. Approximately two thirds of the world’s population live in a G20 country. Together they account for about 80% of the global economic output.
The G20 countries are facing a different set of challenges. A look at the labour market of each G20 country highlights this: Whilst the youth unemployment rate was below 10 % in India, Mexico and Germany in 2015, South Africa and Italy were dealing with rates in excess of 40 %. Another example is the situation in terms of digitalisation: In South Africa there were approximately five fixed broadband connections per 100 inhabitants, whilst in France this figure was higher than 40.
The brochure G20 in figures offers official international data on the key topics of this year’s G20 presidency. Alongside topics such as economic and financial cooperation, the 2017 agenda includes issues such as digitalisation, climate change, antimicrobial resistance, migration and a stronger partnership with the African continent. In addition to the PDF file there is also an interactive version of the brochure available.
Current WISTA edition: Emerging stronger from the crisis? Employment in Germany
The number of persons in employment in Germany has continuously increased for not less than eleven years; the annual average of 43.6 million in 2016 was a new record high.
In the 3/2017 edition of our WISTA scientific journal, Christoph-Martin Mai and Florian Schwahn analyse Erwerbsarbeit in Deutschland und Europa im Zeitraum 1991 bis 2016. In this context, they explore how both economic and social change and employment policy have affected the development of employment in the last 25 years. In addition, they look at the labour market situation in other European countries, especially after the economic and financial crisis of 2009.
