Editorial: Europe’s Cognitive Dissonance

Forum Introduction: From Unemployment Struggles to Labour Market Shortages?

Tomorrow at Work: The Age of Shortages

Reinventing Skills – Changing Paradigms and the EU Response

Labor Shortages: What Is the Problem?

The Evidence Gap in Labour Shortage Assessments

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Supply security is threatened by technical, business, natural and policy shocks, as well as geopolitical tensions. Is there a rationale for policy intervention? If yes, what are efficient and effective measures that achieve de-risking? This article first explains why private incentives do not generally lead to an optimal diversification of supply sources, and then discusses measures that strengthen protection against and resilience in the face of shocks. Governments should refrain from policies that further disincentivise diversification such as the <italic>ex post</italic> skimming of excess profits when adverse shocks force the halt of production and should work on framework conditions that facilitate diversification. Importantly, most measures are best taken at the EU level.
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Improving Supply Security: Guidelines and Policy Proposals

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As of 7 March 2024, the EU Commission began to enforce its controversial Digital Markets Act (DMA). This article sheds light on the recent debate. It lists the dos and don’ts of the DMA as well as stakeholder reactions to them before tracing some of the underlying motivations and reasoning that emerge from the EU’s current policy reversal with reference to dealing with abuse of dominant positions in line with Article 102 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union. Following this, the paper reviews economic aspects of digital platforms, concerns about market foreclosure and essential facility as well as appropriate remedies before closing with a discussion of the challenges in stipulating and enforcing efficient rules to govern digital platforms. It is argued that the DMA ought to be rewritten to stipulate clear and cogent legal standards, return to a strengthened system of ex post control and provide platforms with the opportunity to deliver efficiency defenses as part of corporate self-regulation.
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The EU’s Digital Markets Act: Regulatory Reform, Relapse or Reversal?

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BRICS, the 15-year-old alliance of Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa, has emerged as an important actor on the global political and economic stage, not least by expanding its membership to include middle-power states Egypt, Ethiopia, Iran, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates in early 2024. Much like the countries of the G7 and the EU, BRICS members are among the major players in international agri-food markets. BRICS and the G7 have accounted for around one-seventh of each other’s agricultural exports in the past decade. However, excessive protectionism and mounting sanctions as well as ideology-driven de-risking strategies are a high-risk venture that could ultimately lead to isolationism and the formation of blocs. Food insecurity is growing, primarily at the expense of poorer people in the Global South. Against this background, it seems advisable to balance geopolitical and geoeconomic interests by turning away from confrontational Stone Age politics and towards more cooperative approaches, such as more diplomacy.
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BRICS: World Heavyweight in Agricultural Trade

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This paper analyses the housing markets of OECD countries using a scoring model. This model is based on a European Systematic Risk Board approach to risk assessment of housing markets but extends this approach in two important ways. First, this paper distinguishes between cyclical and structural risk factors. Markets facing higher susceptibility to cyclical risks necessitate a distinct policy approach to prevent or handle disruptions, as opposed to markets primarily affected by structural risks. Second, it illustrates that scoring models contain subjective aspects, e.g. in the choice of weighting factors. We develop four distinct models to weigh risk factors. We show that these different weighing schemes have a significant impact on the estimated risk scores. For policy decisions, such models can therefore only be an indication of the vulnerability of housing markets to crises. Therefore, several scenarios and models should be calculated in parallel to reduce subjectivity.
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Structural and Cyclical Risks in Housing Markets in OECD Countries

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EU member states observe an elaborate process to preserve macroeconomic stability: the macroeconomic imbalance procedure (MIP). The MIP is supposed to monitor and prevent macroeconomic imbalances – and if necessary, correct them. It considers a variety of variables to determine the existence of imbalances, e.g. the current account balance or unit labour costs. However, the macroeconomic impact of climate change is ignored. In light of the growing economic risks due to climate change, this article argues that the MIP should consider climate-related risks explicitly to maintain relevance.
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Climate Change in the EU’s Macroeconomic Imbalance Procedure

Letter from America: Biden’s International Trade Policy: Déjà Vu, Again

AHEAD OF PRINT

Volume 59 (2024): Issue 3 (June 2024)

Volume 59 (2024): Issue 2 (March 2024)

Volume 59 (2024): Issue 1 (February 2024)

Volume 58 (2023): Issue 6 (December 2023)

Volume 58 (2023): Issue 5 (September 2023)

Volume 58 (2023): Issue 4 (July 2023)

Volume 58 (2023): Issue 3 (June 2023)

Volume 58 (2023): Issue 2 (March 2023)

Volume 58 (2023): Issue 1 (January 2023)

Intereconomics

Intereconomics publishes papers dealing with economic and social policy issues in Europe. The journal consists of the following sections: editorial, forum and articles. The editorial section contains brief comments on the latest questions of economic policy in Europe or effecting Europe. In the forum, different authors (researchers, politicians, representatives of trade unions and of employers’ associations etc.) voice their opinions on one particular current economic policy problem facing Europe. The articles, mostly written by economic researchers, address European economic policy issues and trends. The scope of Intereconomics covers the following:   investigates economic and social policy issues in Europe;  offers brief comments on current questions of economic policy in Europe; presents various opinions and perspectives on selected current economic policy problems;  All articles published are made available online; publication costs are covered by the Leibniz Information Centre for Economics (ZBW).  Archiving  Sciendo archives the contents of this journal in Portico - digital long-term preservation service of scholarly books, journals and collections.  Plagiarism Policy  The editorial board is participating in a growing community of Similarity Check System's users in order to ensure that the content published is original and trustworthy. Similarity Check is a medium that allows for comprehensive manuscripts screening, aimed to eliminate plagiarism and provide a high standard and quality peer-review process. 