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  Newsletter November/December 2015
Featured Paper From the Editor Economic Indicators
The Original 
Publications of Interest
The Chart Outstanding Event People Ifo News Bulletin Board
Our end-of-year issue, a double issue but not containing twice as much of everything. Just the usual good stuff. To you, our thanks for accompanying us during 2015 and our best wishes for the coming festivities and the new year. If you find the time, drop us a line: we will always be happy to get your feedback. See you in 2016.

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  Featured Paper

With this contraption I can really rock
A Shock Absorber for the Eurozone

Much has been said about the Eurozone lacking a system to absorb fiscal shocks. In the US, for instance, the federal tax plays such a role. A number of ideas have been touted, but mostly from a theoretical perspective. Now a new CESifo paper puts numbers on one such possible mechanism: a Eurozone-wide unemployment insurance scheme.

Other CESifo Working Papers
Working Paper Submission Form

  The Original Sinn

Hopefully, a silver lining

An Unlikely Nation-Builder

No cloud comes without a silver lining. The gruesome Islamic State's attack on France's cherished way of life could yet breathe new life into a key but moribund European project: turning the EU into a proper political union, unified army and all. That sort of union has so far floundered primarily on France's vehement opposition. Now that so many economic and geopolitical threats call with renewed urgency for a united Europe, France may, or should, reconsider its position, according to Hans-Werner Sinn.

More from and about Hans-Werner Sinn
Hans-Werner Sinn Wins "Professor of the Year" Award
Ifo President Criticises Expansion of ECB’s Bond Buying Programme
   Economic Indicators

Don't look down
Ifo Business Climate Index Soars

Neither the terrorist attacks in Paris nor the unexpectedly large influx of refugees seem to have dented German business confidence. The Ifo Business Climate Index rose steeply in November, in wholesaling to its highest level since January 2014 and in construction to its highest since German reunification. Even in the automotive sector it continued to rise, despite the emissions scandal. Just stay up there, please.

Other Economic Indicators:
Ifo Economic Forecast 2015-2017: Modest Upswing Continues
German Companies Enjoy Increasingly Easy Access to Credit
German Firms Continue to Expand Staff Base
German Industry Expects Stronger Growth in Exports
German Service Sector: Ifo Business Climate Indicator Hits New Record High
Ifo World Economic Climate Cools Down Markedly
   From the Editor

Needy, and needed
Look Who's Coming to Dinner

There is a new commensal at Europe's table. From the newcomer's perspective, invited, sort of. From that of some of the other commensals, not quite. And they don't quite agree what to call her. "Persecuted"? "Refugee"? "Economic migrant?" Maybe the difference does not really matter in the end. But the differences in the responses are splitting Europe down the middle. So, what exactly is a "refugee"?

 
  Outstanding Event

Daron Acemoglu
Daron Acemoglu Receives Distinguished CES Fellow Award

The Center for Economic Studies (the "CES" bit in "CESifo") named Professor Daron Acemoglu of MIT a "Distinguished CES Fellow" for his outstanding work in political economy. He thus joined nearly two dozen other luminaries who have been given this distinction, some of whom went on to win the Nobel Prize in Economics. After the award ceremony, Mr Acemoglu gave a fanstastic Munich Lecture in Economics. Enjoy it here.

Check out also:
Other Forthcoming Academic Conferences
  The Chart

Tectonic movements
Political terror scale

Unfortunately a current, and sadly recurrent, scourge in Europe and, it appears, just about anywhere. Although it has changed it face and methods, it has always been with us. Check out this interactive chart from the DICE Database to see how it has waxed and waned over the period 1976-2013 in a score of selected countries.

   Publications of Interest

Emissions policy is not just hot air
Emissions Trading as a Policy Instrument

The European Emissions Trading Scheme, the world's largest cap-and-trade market, has clearly been only a mixed sucess so far. This new book in the CESifo Seminar Series, edited by Marc Gronwald and Beat Hintermann, provides a number of empirical and theoretical perspectives on the first two phases of the scheme, in the process shedding light on what needs to be improved.

Other Publications of Interest:
CESifo Forum
CESifo DICE Report
CESifo World Economic Survey
CESifo Working Papers
   Ifo News

Count me in
Immigrants Set to Cost Germany 21.1 Billion Euros in 2015

The Ifo Institute expects immigrant-derived costs to amount to 21.1 billion euros for 2015 alone, based on the assumption that 1.1 million persons will flee to Germany. "That figure includes accommodation, food, creches, schools, German courses, training and administration," according to Gabriel Felbermayr, Director of the Ifo Center for International Economics. Ifo had previously estimated the accommodation and food costs of 800,000 people at 10 billion euros for the first twelve months.

Other Ifo News:
German Companies Mainly See Refugees as Unskilled Workers
   People

Faces of the Month
Guests and Locals

The CESifo Group is hosting a number of scholars during December 2015 and January 2016. See what they are working on and get to know their research focus and other aspects of interest.

 
  Bulletin Board

 
News and things of interest to CESifo Network members

This is your chance to come to Venice: check out the call for papers for CESifo's forthcoming Venice Summer Institute and submit your paper before the 22 December deadline. For new postings on the Bulletin Board, please contact Yvonne Maldener.

 
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All texts are the responsibility of the editor and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Ifo, CES or CESifo, or of the researchers mentioned
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Editor: Julio C. Saavedra
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