The Free State of Bavaria is an attractive destination for tourists. On behalf of the Bavarian Ministry of Economic Affairs, Regional Development and Energy, DIW Econ has for the first time fully assessed the economic importance of the tourism industry in Bavaria using the TSA system.
The calculation was carried out for the years 2019 and 2020. This means that not only the Bavarian tourism industry in the last year before the crisis can be analysed, but also the effects of the Corona pandemic.
One in five German households with children lives below the at-risk-of-poverty threshold. Germany’s current coalition agreement aims to strengthen families and lift children out of poverty. Against this background, the basic child allowance is currently under discussion. In the public debate, however, the long-term societal costs of child poverty are hardly ever compared with the costs of measures against child poverty. Yet, the costs are significant and occur in the areas such as health, education and social participation. Scenario analyses confirm that policy measures can be effective in reducing child poverty. Investing in children can therefore lead to substantial fiscal savings in the long run.
The vending industry is currently facing a variety of challenges. Rising operating costs, the decline in floor space in the hospitality industry, growing energy costs and inflation, the COVID-19 pandemic as well as increasing digital competition are putting providers of slot machines under increasing pressure. At the same time, there is only limited legal room for manoeuvre for the vending machine industry to counteract the changed economic conditions by adjusting prices, the quantity offered and via changes to product characteristics.
According to the German Packaging Act, the target for reusable beverage packaging is 70%. With a recent figure of 43.1%, this target is still far from being met, and political targets for increasing the proportion of reusable packaging are increasingly becoming the focus of public debate.
The government of Baden-Württemberg has set itself the goal of making the state carbon-neutral by 2040. However, to meet this challenge, transformation efforts on an unprecedented scale are required. On behalf of the SPD parliamentary group in Baden-Württemberg, DIW Econ has analysed how much CO2 emissions need to be saved each year and what measures need to be taken in the buildings, transport, electricity and heat generation sectors to reach the goal of climate neutrality in 2040 by 2030.