Goethe University has succeeded in raising external funding in the amount of 5 million euro by the Foundation of Monetary and Financial Stability for the next funding period. In the future, the tasks, competences and powers of central banks in monetary policy and the extended regulation and financial supervision as well as their impact on the financial system and the real economy will be even more in the center of the research work.
“The IMFS has successfully established itself in the research community as a brand of money and currency. A particular strength is its dual interdisciplinarity: The IMFS takes an interdisciplinary approach regarding price and financial stability, on the one hand, and law and economics as disciplines on the other hand. In conjunction with the close ties between the politically relevant fundamental research and research-based policy advice, the IMFS can bring real added value to the public debate. Therefore, we are very pleased that together with Goethe University we have succeeded in further accompanying this fruitful work with a long-term perspective”, Gerhard Ziebarth, Chairman of the Executive Board of the Foundation of Monetary and Financial Stability, said.
Besides the Chair of Monetary Economics and the Chair of Money, Currency and Central Bank Law, Goethe University will be linked closer to the IMFS by the new vacancy of a Chair of Financial Markets and Macroeconomics. “I am very pleased that research in this area can be further expanded at Goethe University. The IMFS is a strong and influential voice, which is listened to throughout Germany and Europe. In times of ‘perceived truths’ it seems highly relevant to me that the public is more than ever made aware of decisions taken on the basis of profound scientific findings”, Prof. Birgitta Wolff, President of Goethe University, said.
Among the current research projects of the IMFS there is the Macroeconomic Model Data Base, an open database for macroeconomic models developed by Prof. Volker Wieland and his team, where researchers can share formulas and codes of their models and also reproduce the calculations of other researchers. Another key project is the English translation and update of the 1500-page Commentary on the European Monetary Union, edited by Prof. Helmut Siekmann.
About the IMFS:
Established in 2006 and opened in 2007, the Institute for Monetary and Financial Stability (IMFS) is a research center of Goethe University Frankfurt as part of the project “Currency and Financial Stability” of the Foundation of Monetary and Financial Stability (Stiftung Geld und Währung). The IMFS, which is located in the House of Finance at Goethe University, conducts interdisciplinary economic and legal research research and gives advice regarding issues of money, currency, and financial system. It contributes to the scientific exchange of ideas with national and international participation, especially by organizing events and discussions such as the annual conference “The ECB and Its Watchers”. Managing Director of the institute is Prof. Volker Wieland, Endowed Chair of Monetary Economics and member of the German Council of Economic Experts. Prof. Helmut Siekmann holds the Endowed Chair of Money, Currrency, and Central Bank Law. Affiliated Professors are Michael Binder, Chair for International Macroeconomics and Macroeconometrics at Goethe University, and Tobias Tröger, Chair of Private Law, Trade, and Business Law, Jurisprudence at Goethe University.
About the Foundation of Monetary and Financial Stability:
Established in 2002 on the basis of a federal act, the Foundation of Monetary and Financial Stability (Stiftung Geld und Währung) is a public foundation in terms of German public law with the purpose of raising public awareness of the importance of monetary and financial stability and promoting economic and legal research in the area of money and currency. The foundation capital was raised by the sale of 1 DM gold coins in 2001 that had been issued on the occasion of the introduction of the euro to commemorate the D-Mark.