The January 2019 edition of the Bundesbank’s Monthly Report looks into how a normalisation of interest rates will impact on balance sheets in the euro area’s private non-financial sector and explores price competitiveness in a number of euro area countries in terms of the development, drivers and influence of labour market reforms. The Report also features an analysis of financial cycles in the euro area and sheds light on International Financial Reporting Standard (IFRS) 9 from a banking supervision angle.

Tax reform designed to improve the conditions for macroeconomic growth without weighing on government budgets has been the topic of recent debate in Europe. One proposal on the table suggests reducing taxes on wages whilst at the same time raising those on land and property. A new study uses a modern DSGE model to examine how, within this model framework, such a shift would impact on the aggregate economy and to what extent property owners and tenants would be affected.

Former Bundestag speaker Norbert Lammert spoke at the New Year’s reception hosted by the Alumni Association of the Bundesbank’s University of Applied Sciences. Addressing around 100 guests, he recalled the outbreak of the financial crisis and discussed current issues.