25.09.2025 • 28/2025
Joint Economic Forecast Autumn 2025: Fiscal stimulus masks structural weakness
The German economy is emerging from the trough and is likely to regain some momentum over the next two years. Following stagnation in the first half of the year, the Joint Economic Forecast project group predicts gross domestic product growth of 0.2% for the current year in its fall report. In the next two years, an expansionary fiscal policy is likely to accelerate economic growth noticeably to 1.3% and 1.4%, respectively. This means that the institutes' forecast for this year and next remains roughly unchanged from the spring report. “The German economy is still on shaky ground,” says Dr Geraldine Dany-Knedlik, head of the Forecasting and Economic Policy Division at the German Institute for Economic Research (DIW Berlin). “It will recover noticeably in the next two years. However, given ongoing structural weaknesses, this momentum will not last.”
Oliver Holtemöller
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Corporate Loan Spreads and Economic Activity
Anthony Saunders, Alessandro Spina, Sascha Steffen, Daniel Streitz
Review of Financial Studies,
No. 2,
2025
Abstract
We use secondary corporate loan-market prices to construct a novel loan-market-based credit spread. This measure has considerable predictive power for economic activity across macroeconomic outcomes in both the U.S. and Europe and captures unique information not contained in public market credit spreads. Loan-market borrowers are compositionally different and particularly sensitive to supply-side frictions as well as financial frictions that emanate from their own balance sheets. This evidence highlights the joint role of financial intermediary and borrower balance-sheet frictions in understanding macroeconomic developments and enriches our understanding of which type of financial frictions matter for the economy.
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16.01.2025 • 3/2025
Medium-term projection for the German economy and scenarios for achieving the targets of the Climate Protection Law
The potential growth rate of the German economy is declining. According to the medium-term projection of the Halle Institute for Economic Research (IWH), potential output is likely to increase by an annual average of just 0.3% in the medium term (2023-2029). The target of climate neutrality by 2045 is likely to be missed by a wide margin without further emission-reducing measures. It could be achieved by means of higher CO₂ prices at significantly lower macroeconomic costs than by means of non-market-based regulatory measures.
Oliver Holtemöller
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Konjunktur aktuell: Frostige Aussichten für die deutsche Wirtschaft
Konjunktur aktuell,
No. 4,
2024
Abstract
Zur Jahreswende dürfte die weltweite Produktion weiterhin in etwa so schnell wie in der Dekade vor der Pandemie expandieren. Die Konjunktur im Euroraum ist nur verhalten, und die Stagnation der deutschen Wirtschaft setzt sich fort. Die Industrie verliert an internationaler Wettbewerbsfähigkeit. Unternehmen und Verbraucher halten sich aufgrund unklarer wirtschaftspolitischer Aussichten mit ihren Ausgaben zurück. Das Bruttoinlandsprodukt dürfte im Jahr 2024 um 0,2% sinken und im Jahr 2025 um 0,4% expandieren.
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Box 3.6.: Place-based industrial policies and credit markets: Evidence from the former East and West
Aleksandr Kazakov, Michael Koetter
EBRD Transition Report 2024-25,
December
2024
Abstract
The Transition Report 2024-25 focuses on industrial policies in the EBRD regions and beyond. Such policies have seen a resurgence, seeking to address market failures such as environmental degradation. However, their track record is mixed. Their growing popularity is shaped primarily by domestic political economy considerations and rising geopolitical tensions. While industrial policies are typically employed by higher-income economies, they are also now used more frequently in economies with less administrative and fiscal capacity to implement them.
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Media Response
Media Response November 2025 Reint Gropp: Expertendialog: Wege zur Stärkung des Wirtschaftswachstums in Deutschland in: Youtube, 12.11.2025 Steffen Müller: Wir erwarten das…
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Alumni
IWH Alumni The IWH maintains contact with its former employees worldwide. We involve our alumni in our work and keep them informed, for example, with a newsletter. We also plan…
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Advisory Board The CompNet Advisory Board is composed of distinguished scholars and leading experts in the fields of productivity, competitiveness, and economic policy, and also…
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Research Articles
Research Articles Explore cutting-edge research based on CompNet’s micro-aggregated firm-level data and related analytical tools. These articles cover empirical and theoretical…
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Centre for Evidence-based Policy Advice
Centre for Evidence-based Policy Advice (IWH-CEP) The Centre for Evidence-based Policy Advice (IWH-CEP) of the IWH was founded in 2014. It is a platform that bundles and…
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