Les Atterrés organisent

L’étape allemande de notre Tour d’Europe

événement organisé par les EA et EuroPen

Wednesday, 16 April 2014, 6 p.m.

German Wage Restraint as a Shining Example?

Franco-German Perspectives on Wage Policies in the Euro area

Venue: Berlin School of Economics and Law (BSEL) Campus Schoeneberg, Badensche Str. 50-51 (Underground Station Bayerischer Platz), Building B, room B 1.01

Hosts: Les Économistes Atterrés, France,

Institute for International Political Economy Berlin (IPE) and Studium Generale at BSEL

Germany has come to be seen as a shining example in Europe in recent years due to its relatively good performance in terms of growth and employment. The strategy of deregulation, dismantling the welfare state and reforming the labour market seems to have turned the former ‘sick man of Europe‘ into a successful role model. The recommendation for the European neighbours, above all for the crisis-ridden countries in the periphery, is to copy (a radicalized version of) this model in order to regain economic strength.

However, recently, increasing doubts have been raised about the German model:The deregulation of the labour market and the encouragement of a low-wage sector are said to have significantly increased income inequality and poverty and to have led to extremely weak wage growth. This in turn is said to have weakened domestic demand and fuelled international economic imbalances due to the build-up of large export surpluses. Germany is said to outcompete its neighbours by way of excessive wage moderation and to not doing enough to boost economic growth in Europe.

Criticisms in this vein by international organisations – even by the European Commission – have become quite frequent.

This meeting will take a critical look at the role of German labour market and wages policies both from a German and from an international perspective. Given the outstanding importance of Franco-German political and economic relations the focus is on the French perspective.

The event is part of the ‘tour of Europe’ by the French Économistes Atterrés. This group of ‘appalled‘ economists was founded in 2010 to protest against the dominant economic doctrine in France and has since become a well-known participant in the country’s economic policy debates. Their founding manifesto was published as a book which has sold more than 80,000 copies.. Since then, Atterrés has published several other books and been involved in a wide range of public activities. The Atterrés’ tour of Europe, which is taking place in the run-up to the European elections, aims to campaign for the adoption of an alternative economic policy in Europe. (https://www.atterres.org/).

Invited speakers:

Prof. Dr. Henri Sterdyniak (Director of the division‚ ‘Economics of Globalisation‘ at the French economic research institute OFCE, Paris and founding member of the Économistes Atterrés)

Prof. Dr. Gustav Horn (Director of the Macroeconomic Policy Institute at Hans-Boeckler-Foundation, Duesseldorf and professor at the university of Duisburg-Essen).

The discussion will be chaired by Prof. Dr. Trevor Evans, president of the IPE Berlin and professor for monetary theory, monetary policy and international currency relations at BSEL.

The conference was organised by Prof. Dr. Achim Truger who holds a professorship in economics, particularly makroeconomics and economic policy at BSEL.
voir les détails en fichier attaché.