100 Years of Business Cycle Research at the Kiel Institute: Lessons from the Astwik-Vienna Debate – Stefan Kooths

Speaker

Stefan Kooths (Kiel Institute)

Abstract

While the Kiel Institute was founded in 1914, its scientific research program did not take shape until 1926, with the establishment of the Department of Statistical International Economics and Research on International Trade Cycles (German acronym: Astwik). Under the leadership of Adolph Lowe, Astwik reached beyond statistical data collection to engage in pioneering theoretical work aimed at explaining the drivers of cyclical fluctuations in capitalist economies. Its researchers played a prominent role in contemporary debates on business-cycle theory, particularly in their intellectual exchanges with scholars at the Vienna Institute for Business Cycle Research (today: WIFO). Marking Astwik’s centenary, this presentation revisits the principal contours of the Astwik-Vienna debate and uses its key findings as a lens through which to examine current challenges in the study of macroeconomic dynamics. 

Room

Media Room (A-211)