Premiere von “Jacques der Fatalist und sein Herr” nach Denis Diderot im Bonner Theater am 28. Februar 2026. Lektüre und Aufführung ein großer Spaß…..
A literary “random walk” in the face of fate: Premiere of “Jacques the Fatalist and His Master” based on Denis Diderot at the Bonn Theater on February 28, 2026. Reading and performance were so much fun…..
Rechts: General-Anzeiger Bonn, 2. 3. 2026, S. 8.
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In einer eindringlichen Stellungnahme hat am 21. Januar 2026 die Nationale Akademie der Wissenschaften Leopoldina zur Prävention von Adipositas aufgerufen und dabei u.a. die Einführung einer Zuckersteuer auf zucker- und fettreiche Lebensmittel gefordert. Leopoldina Policy Brief.
Ein am 5. Februar 2026 publizierter Artikel von australischen Wissenschaftlern im Handbook of Labor, Human Resources and Population Economics referiert und bewertet die internationale gesundheitsökonomische Fachliteratur und kommt zu einem unterstützenden Urteil:
Just published: Sharma, A., Sinha, K. (2026). The Economics of a Sin Tax on Sugar-Sweetened Beverages. In: Zimmermann, K.F. (eds) Handbook of Labor, Human Resources and Population Economics. Springer, Cham.
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-57365-6_298-1
ABSTRACT. The increasing global prevalence of non-communicable diseases (NCDs), including type II diabetes, cardiovascular disease, and obesity, represents a major public health challenge. This chapter reviews the effectiveness of price-based policy interventions, with a focus on taxes on sugar-sweetened beverages (SSBs), as a strategy to address these health concerns. By analyzing the evidence from simulation-based studies and real-world implementation, the chapter explores the application of economic theory to understand consumer behavior and the potential impacts of SSB taxes. Key considerations include the price sensitivity of SSB consumption, the substitution effects—both desirable and undesirable—on other food and beverage choices, and the distributional consequences across income levels and age groups. Additionally, the chapter evaluates the health benefits, such as reductions in obesity and chronic disease rates, as well as the economic benefits stemming from lower healthcare expenditures. The evidence indicates that well-implemented SSB taxes can effectively reduce consumption, improve population health outcomes, and generate significant government revenue, positioning them as a promising tool in the global effort to combat the NCD epidemic.
GLO Fellow Anurag Sharma is a Senior Lecturer at the University of New South Wales, Australia. GLO Fellow Kompal Sinha is a Professor of Economics at Macquarie University, Australia, an Editor of the Journal of Population Economics and a Section Editor “Health” of the Handbook of Labor, Human Resources and Population Economics published by Springer Nature.
Frisvold, D., Lensing, C. (2021). Economics of Obesity. In: Zimmermann, K.F. (eds) Handbook of Labor, Human Resources and Population Economics. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-57365-6_134-1
ABSTRACT. This chapter provides an overview of the levels, trends, causes, and consequences of obesity, related market failures, and the evidence of the impact of policies that could potentially address the market failures. More than 40% of adults in the United States are obese, and obesity-related healthcare accounts for over 20% of total annual medical expenditures. The decrease in the price of calorie-dense foods, which led to an increase in average calories consumed, is a primary cause of the rise in obesity since the 1970s. There are also significant market failures associated with obesity, including negative externalities due to pooled health insurance and asymmetric information between food producers and consumers. The presence of market failures provides support for government policies aimed at decreasing and preventing obesity. Public policy tactics to address this issue include price-based, information-based, and school-based policies. Of these, school-based policies may be the most effective as they help form healthy nutrition habits and prevent obesity in adulthood when healthcare costs are much higher. Overall, obesity rates remain high and continued government intervention is necessary to improve the market failures related to this epidemic.
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Is Europe Playing With Fire? Nearly two dozen noted observers offer their views on EU-Bonds in the latest issue of The International Economy. The magazine of international economic policy. (For a free link to the entire debate see below.) GLO President Klaus F. Zimmermann was invited to contribute to the discussion:
Public debt in the euro area is high and continues to rise significantly, necessitating a cautious, rules-based approach. Eurostat has reported that the euroarea’s debt ratio stood at 88 percent of GDP in early 2025, with the entire European Union at about 82 percent. There is considerable variation among member countries. Given the current global economic, financial, and political climate, it is anticipated that aggregate debt will increase substantially over the medium term under various plausible scenarios. Consequently, it is essential to rebuild fiscal buffers while simultaneously prioritizing investments that enhance potential growth and maintain support for Ukraine as a European public good.
A novel approach to fiscal management and market liquidity is achievable, though it should remain narrowly focused in the short term. Under the European Commission’s “unified funding” model, the European Union issues pooled “EU-Bonds” under a single label and adheres to semi-annual funding plans. Eurex, the main European derivatives exchange owned by Deutsche Börse, has recently introduced physically deliverable futures on EU-Bonds, offering investors a standardized method to hedge against fluctuations in EU-Bond yields. Provided that issuance remains predictable and transparent, these contracts are expected to enhance secondary market liquidity by connecting cash, repo, and derivatives markets.
Legally, EU-issued securities are obligations of the Union that are used to finance EU programs. The EU budget must be in balance, Article 310 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union requires that revenue and expenditure match. While short-term borrowing on capital markets has been authorized, these liabilities must be repaid in full and in sequence. This approach is distinct from taking on member state legacy debts, highlighting the importance of keeping EU borrowing tied to specific programs and time-limited. Deviating from this approach would not align with European treaties.
Germany has not abolished its debt brake but has constitutionally narrowed it. In March 2025, the Bundestag and Bundesrat approved exemptions for defense expenditures exceeding roughly 1 percent of GDP and established a substantial, multi-year infrastructure special fund. From a conservative standpoint, this approach heightens execution risk and necessitates credible medium-term consolidation. Current experiences already reveal displacement effects: transfers from the core budget into the new fund have created space for non-investment consumption items, effectively crowding out net new public infrastructure efforts and undermining the reform’s stated intent. This dynamic highlights the significant risks associated with the chosen approach and underscores the importance of firm guardrails.
Therefore, expanding EU-level issuance is justifiable for well-defined European public goods, such as defense readiness (including ongoing support for Ukraine), energy security, single-market deepening, and climate-critical infrastructure, as long as it is grounded in transparent program law, strict conditionality, and repayment plans within the European Union’s seven-year long-term budget. With these safeguards, deeper EU issuance and the new futures market can enhance liquidity and resilience without obscuring sovereign-risk pricing; without them, mutualization would invite moral hazard and undermine market credibility.
Expanding EU-level issuance is justifiable. in: The International Economy. The magazine of international economic policy, With EU-Bonds, Is Europe Playing With Fire?, Summer 2025, pp. 46-47. Contribution by Klaus F. Zimmermann. LINK to the complete published material.
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January 5, 2026: 150th birthday of Konrad Adenauer, legendary first Chancellor of Germany. In the famous
In the famous Bundestag debate on the ratification of the Germany Treaty on December 3, 1952, when I was just one day old, he said: “We are faced with a choice between slavery and freedom. We choose freedom. (Wir stehen vor der Wahl zwischen Sklaverei und Freiheit. Wir wählen die Freiheit.) ”
On the Petersberg near Bonn on December 14, 2025.
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Happy holidays, best wishes for a wonderful, much better New Year, and thank you for supporting us in 2025.
Drachenburg Castle near Bonn, December 20, 2025
In a period of rising uncertainty in the China-German governmental relationships, GLO President Klaus F. Zimmermann travels to Beijing on October 29 to co-organize a scientific conference at Renmin University of China. Zimmermann, who is a honorary professor of 3 Chinese universities and a frequent visitor of China, will meet various contacts in the Chinese capital.
The academic conference is on November 1-2, 2025; it is the 8th Renmin University & GLO Annual Conference (see detailed program).
Some impressions from the trip:
This year’s Annual Assembly of the German National Academy of Sciences Leopoldina, held in Halle (Saale), Germany, on September 25-26, 2025, is centered around the theme of artificial intelligence in all its dimensions. The gathering convenes distinguished experts from a range of fields to explore the latest advancements in AI research, its potential applications, and its societal impacts. Klaus F. Zimmermann, who serves as the Leopoldina Senator for Section 25 (Economics and Empirical Social Sciences), took part in both the annual business meetings and the conference program focused on artificial intelligence.
The full event program is available here: https://www.leopoldina.org/en/events/event/event/3237/
First Call for Papers. The Global Labor Organization (GLO), a large international network of economists and related disciplines, invites contributed papers on all areas of applied human resources issues to its annual hybrid global GLO-JOPE 2025 conference (3-5 December 2025). Supported by the Journal of Population Economics (JOPE), it organizes online sessions for this period, and on December 4-5 a connected in-person event in the Science Center Bonn. Submissions are open, and the submission deadline is October 23, 2025. For further details (continuously updated) see
https://glabor.org/global-glo-jope-conference-2025-december-3-5-bonn/
As the Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of Population Economics (JOPE), Klaus F. Zimmermann was invited to speak on September 19, 2025 at the Springer Nature Editor Summit in Heidelberg about the success story of the journal. On January 2024, JOPE introduced Continous Article Publishing (CAP) to ensure fast and efficient publication of accepted manuscripts. At the same time, it started a larger number of article Collections to signal topics of interest to generate extra high quality submissions. Recently, Zimmermann had received the Springer Nature Editor of Distinction Awards 2025. Below see number of submissions to the journal, 2011 to 2025.
Note: 2020/2021: Larger number of transfer desk submissions. 2025: Predicted based on actual numbers on September 17, 2025.
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Following new strands of research at the 2025 annual conference of the traditional German Economic Association (Verein für Socialpolitik) in Cologne/Germany, 14-17 September 2025. Meetings with colleagues from the Free University of Berlin, GLO Fellows; authors of the Journal of Population Economics, the „Handbook of Labor, Human Resources, and Population Economics” and the book series “Population Economics” as well as with Springer Nature staff Martina Bihn and Niko Chtouris.
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