Hans-Werner Sinn - The Japan Times

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Hans-Werner Sinn

For Hans-Werner Sinn's latest contributions to The Japan Times, see below:

COMMENTARY / World

Aug 27, 2009

Promise and peril of global change

MUNICH — Panta rhei. Everything flows.

COMMENTARY / World

May 3, 2009

World's biggest shock absorber

MUNICH — Since last autumn, Germany has been accused by a number of Anglo-American economists, above all by the 2008 Nobel laureate Paul Krugman, of not doing enough to combat the world economic crisis and of free-riding on other countries' stimulus programs.

COMMENTARY / World

Jan 3, 2009

Why does Germany's chancellor hesitate?

MUNICH — "Where is Angela?" is the question The Economist asked when Nicolas Sarkozy, Gordon Brown and Jose Manuel Barroso met to prepare a European economic stimulus plan without Chancellor Merkel being present. Indeed, Germany is currently the spoiler in the competition to provide billions to prevent a breakdown of the world economy. Why is Germany so hesitant when it comes to economic stimulus programs?

COMMENTARY / World

Oct 17, 2008

Plugging U.S. equity leaks

MUNICH — With pain and misgiving, the U.S. Congress has bailed out Wall Street to prevent a meltdown of America's financial system. But the $700 billion to be used may flow into a leaky bucket, and so may the billions provided by governments throughout the world.

COMMENTARY / World

Jul 4, 2008

A wave of migrating brains and barbarians

MUNICH — Europe is experiencing a huge wave of migration between east and west. This movement resembles the Great Migrations (Volkerwanderung) of the fourth to sixth centuries.

COMMENTARY / World

Apr 30, 2008

New regulations needed to curb bad banking

After the 1982 debt crisis, the U.S. savings and loan (S&L) crisis in the United States in the late 1980s, and the Asian financial crisis of 1997, the subprime mortgage crisis is the fourth major banking crisis since World War II, and by far the biggest. According to the International Monetary Fund, the total loss in terms of balance sheet write-offs will be nearly $1 trillion worldwide, of which the lion's share probably will be borne by U.S. financial institutions. Given that the combined equity capital stock of all U.S. financial institutions is roughly $1.2 trillion, this is a breathtaking sum.

COMMENTARY / World

Mar 10, 2008

The global economic party has ended

MUNICH — With the United States teetering into recession, the global economic boom has ended. The boom was unusually long and persistent, with four years of roughly 5 percent growth — a period of sustained economic dynamism not seen since around 1970.

COMMENTARY / World

Dec 6, 2007

Put production of food ahead of biofuel

PRAGUE — When United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki Moon recently visited Antarctica, he was impressed by the melting ice he saw there. Then he was in Brazil, where he was impressed by the country's use of biofuel to power a quarter of its automotive traffic. Oil pressed from rapeseed can be used as diesel fuel, and corn or sugar beets can yield ethanol to replace gasoline.

COMMENTARY / World

May 5, 2007

Can France get back on track?

MUNICH — The new president of France, be it Nicolas Sarkozy or Segolene Royal, will face a tough challenge when it comes to putting the French economy back on its feet. While the world economy is booming for the fourth consecutive year, with a historically unprecedented growth rate of about 5 percent, the French economy is limping. In 2006, it grew by only 2.2 percent, while growth rates of only 2.1 percent and 1.9 percent can be expected for 2007 and 2008, respectively, according to a recent forecast by the German Economic Research Institutes. This is significantly below the average of the old EU countries for these three years — 2.7 percent, 2.6 percent and 2.4 percent, respectively.

COMMENTARY / World

Mar 5, 2007

Eastern challenge to West European jobs

MUNICH -- In January, the European Union expanded eastward once again. Following the "Big Bang" enlargement of 2004, which added 75 million new EU citizens, the accession of Romania and Bulgaria has added 30 million more. What does this mean for the labor markets of Western Europe?

COMMENTARY / World

Sep 3, 2006

Merkel's reforms drift toward dead end

MUNICH -- A year ago, Angela Merkel, Germany's charming new chancellor, was in the final phase of her election campaign. The incumbent, Gerhard Schroeder, lagged so far behind her Christian Democrats (CDU) in public opinion polls that she thought she would win a landslide victory and could therefore afford to expound on the cruelties of the liberal austerity program delineated in her electoral campaign. She even announced a value-added tax increase (which her new government has, indeed, decided to implement in 2007).

COMMENTARY / World

Apr 29, 2006

May Day madness in Europe

MUNICH -- May 1, 2006, is a crucial date for Europe, for it is the deadline for implementing the European Union's directive on freedom of movement into national law. Most countries have already changed their immigration laws, or have promised to do so before the deadline. Only Belgium, Italy, Finland and Luxembourg lag behind.

COMMENTARY / World

Mar 4, 2006

Reshaping the welfare state

LONDON -- A market economy is efficient, but it is not just. Because wages are determined by the law of scarcity, some people cannot earn enough money to live a decent life.

From easily navigable train stations to the helpfulness of its municipal staff, Tokyo has earned high praise for its commitment to accessibility for disabled travelers.

[Rebroadcast] Japan is doing better on accessibility than you may think

When trying to trace your lineage in Japan, the "koseki" is the most important form of document you'll encounter.

Climbing the branches of a Japanese family tree

By Alex K.T. Martin

SUSTAINABLE JAPAN

Live like a lord or lady for a night at Ozu Castle

Live like a lord or lady for a night at Ozu Castle

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