Geo-Economics

Geo-economics – one of DGAP’s core themes – explores how the politics of trade, technology, finance, and/or energy can be employed to achieve strategic goals. For Europe to remain a key player internationally, the continent must help define the rules of a new geo-economic world order. DGAP looks at how Germany can contribute to better positioning Europe in this increasingly competitive landscape.

Recent publications

Photo of Germany's Federal Minister of Finance Olaf Scholz in the Budestag during the debate on the 2021 budget debt brake

Germany’s Debt Brake and Europe’s Fiscal Stance after COVID-19

Germany’s plan to return to its debt brake creates a serious risk of premature fiscal tightening. Given that the fiscal divide between Europe and the US will widen sharply in 2021, a hasty return to European and German fiscal rules would stifle recovery and undermine efforts to rebuild transatlantic ties in trade and macroeconomic cooperation. This paper proposes several practical options to attenuate the fiscal drag associated with a return to the debt brake and calls for a broad debate on its reform.