#ZEWPodcast
The #ZEWPodcast “Wirklich Wirtschaft” offers direct insights into ZEW's research – understandable, up-to-date, and close to the scientists. The podcast is available in two formats: “ZEW Wirklisch Wirtschaft Kompakt”, the short and concise news and explanation format, and “ZEW Wirklich Wirtschaft Background” which explores topics in greater depth and context. In the future, there will also be episodes in English.
From 2020 to 2025, the podcast ran under the title “Wirtschaft · Forschung · Debatten” (in German language only). At the end of 2025, it was relaunched and has since been renamed “ZEW Wirklich Wirtschaft”.
You can find the podcast on all popular platforms, including Podigee, Apple Podcasts, and Spotify.
Do you have any comments, ideas, or feedback about the podcast? Feel free to write to us at podcast@zew.de.
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Issues
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#ZEWPodcast (Concise) Swiss Tax Cuts Neutralised by Local Authorities
Cantonal tax rates in the Swiss canton of Bern were significantly reduced in 2011/2012, particularly for low and middle incomes. However, many municipalities responded by substantially increasing their own tax rates. In a new study, ZEW economist Paul Steger shows that numerous municipalities raised their taxes so sharply that the shortfalls were overcompensated and the effective tax burden increased in some cases – especially for higher incomes. Steger discusses these findings in the ZEW podcast “Wirklich Wirtschaft Kompakt” (“Economics Actually”).
Steger also draws lessons for Germany from the Swiss “laboratory case”. Similar mechanisms apply here, for example, to trade tax. If the federal government reduces the tax burden on companies without relieving the burden on local authorities elsewhere or providing them with better resources, cities and municipalities could respond with higher tax rates. Any relief sought – for example, through the planned “growth booster” corporate tax reform – would then be partially ineffective.