Europe in Crisis: New Perspectives for a European Union of Nation States

Europe in Crisis: New Perspectives for a European Union of Nation States
Date
Tue November 29th 2016, 4:30pm
Location
Pigott Hall (Bldg 260), Room 252

Speaker(s): Michael Hüther, Director, Cologne Institute for Economic Research (Institut der deutschen Wirtschaft Köln); Gerda Henkel Adjunct Professor 2016-17

I will try to cover the various types of crises – the debt crisis in the Eurozone, the crisis of legitimacy of the European Union, the crisis of policy coordination in Europe, the identity crisis of the delayed nations in Europe, the security crisis (Ukraine, Crimea) –, their root causes and conceivable answers. European integration is at stake. The risk of decay is greater than ever. To recognize the possibilities of a solution, one must understand the multiple crises as a cause. There is no simple answer, because political criteria, social conditions and economic challenges have to be met. Europe is at a crossroads, because the previous integration logic no longer applies. Going on with deepening the integration, convinced no one in Europe. What is needed is a new balance between the historically shaped national states and the vision of a united Europe. The nation-state as an organizing principle of modern statehood belongs neither to the dustbin of history as the European idea. The economic theory of public goods as well as the political science category of public space (“öffentlicher Raum” Hannah Arendt) together can offer orientation, how the European Union can be further developed.
Prof. Dr. Michael Hüther studied economics as well as medieval and modern history at the Justus-Liebig University in Giessen from 1982 to 1987. Upon completion of his doctorate in economics, in 1991 he became a member of the scientific staff of the Council of Experts for the Evaluation of Macroeconomic Development. In 1995 he was appointed Secretary General of the German Council of Economic Advisers.
In 1999, he joined DekaBank as chief economist and in 2001 additionally as Division Manger economics and communication. Since August 2001 Prof. Hüther is Honorary Professor at the European Business School in Oestrich-Winkel. In July 2004 he was appointed Director and Member of the main board of the Cologne Institute for Economic Research.
Amongst others, he is member of the main board of Atlantic Brücke, the board of directors and the supervisory board of TÜV Rheinland AG, the supervisory board of Allianz Global Investors Kapitalanlagegesellschaft mbH, the Board of Trustees of the Institute for Banking and Financial History Research, the Max Weber Prize for Business Ethics, the Max Planck Institute for the Study of Societies, the Gesellschaft für Unternehmensgeschichte e.V., the advisory board of the Walter-Raymond Foundation and the advisory board of the Deutsche Bank.