News

06.05.2022 - Public finances between ambition, day-to-day life and the crises are presented in the new book published by Jens Bullerjahn, Michael Thöne and Ringo Wagner. A wealth of perspectives from politics, academia and practitioners are brought together on 720 pages in 41 essays and 16 conversations with Olaf Scholz and many others. A very personal exchange between Jens Bullerjahn and Michael Thöne. Furthermore, there are contributions from FiFo by Eva Gerhards, Klaus Mackscheidt and a few more by Michael Thöne. More on that soon. The free digital book (in German) is available here; the free print version will follow in a few weeks.

29.04.2022 - "The more the better'' often is the motto of fiscal policy in crisis management. Which expenditures contribute to long-term goals and which, at worst, create burdens for the future is of secondary importance. Such differences in the quality of public finances, however, offer the starting point for improving governments’ performance and resilience without undermining the intergenerational sustainability of public finances. In FiFo Discussion Paper 22-2, Michael Thöne reviews the concept of the "Quality of Public Finances" (GPF) and discusses its contributions for the 2020s policies.

23.02.2022 - Biontech's profits create tax gains worth billions. The state of Rhineland-Palatinate even becomes a payer state in the federal-state fiscal equalisation system. Model calculations show a paradoxical drop of revenues in the short term, but more important is the possibly permanent shift of power in federal finances, Michael Thöne explains in the Handelsblatt. This will considerably shorten the time until the finely balanced construct needs to be revamped.

25.11.2021 - Creating a plenty of housing that meets the needs and tripling the speed of climate protection in the housing sector at the same time: In addition to many private investments, this will also require intensive government efforts. Here, the funding channels must be geared even more efficiently to achieving maximum "bang for the buck", explains Michael Thöne in his interview with the VdW magazine.

18.11.2021 - On the second day of the Online Finance Days 2021 of the Evangelische Akademie Loccum, Michael Thöne will speak on "Resilience and Reform - Tasks of the federal levels in the 2020s". Register here for the free digital conference.