: The Macroeconomic Policy Institute (IMK)

The Macroeconomic Policy Institute (IMK) is an independent academic institute within the Hans-Böckler-Foundation, a non-profit organisation fostering co-determination and promoting research and academic study. The Foundation is linked to the German Confederation of Trade Unions (DGB). The IMK was founded in 2005 to strengthen the macroeconomic perspective both in economic research and in the economic policy debate. The IMK analyses business cycle developments and conducts economic policy research, notably on fiscal and monetary policy, labour markets, income distribution and financial markets. The Institute seeks to address the challenges facing macroeconomics and economic policy in the wake of the global financial crisis.

IMK Titelgrafik für die Startseite des Instituts
Keyvisual FMM Conference 2023 Inflation Distributional Conflict Transition
summerschool

8th International FMM Summer School

The summer school aims at providing an introduction to Keynesian macroeconomics and to the problems of European economic policies to interested graduate students (MA and PhD) and junior researchers. It will consist of overview lectures, a panel discussion, student study groups, an SFC lab, and a poster session.

IMK Grafik zu den Veröffentlichungen im Allgemeinen

Current Publications

Peter Bofinger : : Fighting inflation with conventional and unconventional fiscal policy: The case for a new macroeconomic policy assignment

The study examines the distribution of roles between monetary and fiscal policy in stabilising the price level. It shows that it makes sense to commit not only the central bank but also the government to the target of price stability. This is particularly true in the European Monetary Union, where the European Central Bank can only react inadequately to national shocks.

Deckblatt IMK Study Nr. 92

Jan Priewe : Comparing living and working conditions – Germany outperforms the United States

Although GDP per capita in the U.S. is 21 percent above Germany (2022), comparing living conditions with 80 indicators shows a score of 23:6 for Germany. Here, annual working time is much shorter, and in the areas of environment, health, individual and social security, and gender equity Germany is far ahead. In the U.S., individual consumption, housing and education score slightly better.

Deckblatt IMK Study 91

Mark Setterfield : Managing the Discontent of the Losers Redux: A Future of Authoritarian Neoliberalism or Social Capitalism?

Neoliberalism eviscerated the value-sharing ethos of the post-war Golden Age (1945-73), seeking to maintain social cohesion in civil society by 'managing the discontent of the losers'. This involved reconciling working households to the realities of the neoliberal labour market by means of coercion, distraction, and debt accumulation - the latter serving to limit the growth of consumption inequality in the face of burgeoning income inequality.

Deckblatt FMM Working Paper 98