[The Crisis is Gradually Being Overcome]. / Gemeinschaftsdiagnose: Die Krise wird allmählich überwunden.

The leading economic research institutes have lowered their GDP growth forecast for 2021 from 3.7 % to 2.4 %. Weakening industrial production, which is suffering from supply bottlenecks, is particularly responsible for this. The global economy is recovering from the disruptions of the coronavirus pandemic, but only slowly, as vaccination progress varies across regions. Consumer prices increased sharply in 2021.

[Gemeinschaftsdiagnose: Pandemic Delays Upswing - Demography Slows Growth]. / Gemeinschaftsdiagnose: Pandemie verzögert Aufschwung ­ Demografie bremst Wachstum.

In Germany, the first year of the coronavirus pandemic was characterised by extreme fluctuations in economic activity and a massively paralysed domestic economy. In their spring report, the leading economic research institutes assume that the current shutdown will continue and gradually be lifted from mid-May until the end of the third quarter. In the wake of the easing, private consumption in particular will recover strongly. Overall, GDP is expected to grow by 3.7 % this year and 3.9 % next year.

[Economy in Shock - Financial Policy is Holding Up]. / Wirtschaft unter Schock ­ Finanzpolitik hält dagegen.

According to the leading German economic research institutes, the German economy is experiencing a drastic slump as a result of the corona pandemic. In order to slow down the wave of infection, the state has severely restricted economic activity in Germany. As a result, GDP is expected to shrink by 4.2% this year. The recession is leaving clear traces on the labour market and the national budget. At its peak, the unemployment rate will soar to 5.9% and the number of short-time workers to 2.4 million. This year, the fiscal policy stabilisation measures will lead to a record deficit in the general government budget of 159 billion euro. After the shutdown, the economy will gradually recover. Accordingly, the increase in GDP next year will be strong at 5.8%. This forecast is associated with considerable downside risks, e.g. because the pandemic can be slowed faster or because the recovery of economic activity will be less successful than expected or there may be a new wave of infection.

Impact of personal economic environment and personality factors on individual financial decision making.

This study on healthy young male students aimed to enlighten the associations between an individual's financial decision making and surrogate makers for environmental factors covering long-term financial socialization, the current financial security/responsibility, and the personal affinity to financial affairs as represented by parental income, funding situation, and field of study. A group of 150 male young healthy students underwent two versions of the Holt and Laury (2002) lottery paradigm (matrix and random sequential version). Their financial decision was mainly driven by the factor "source of funding": students with strict performance control (grants, scholarships) had much higher rates of relative risk aversion (RRA) than subjects with support from family (ΔRRA = 0.22; p = 0.018). Personality scores only modestly affected the outcome. In an ANOVA, however, also the intelligence quotient significantly and relevantly contributed to the explanation of variance; the effects of parental income and the personality factors "agreeableness" and "openness" showed moderate to modest - but significant - effects. These findings suggest that environmental factors more than personality factors affect risk aversion.