Two Cheers for the Earned Income Tax Credit 
Klaus B. Beckmann and Martin Werding
The Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) has received considerable attention as a possible model for European policy-making. While most contributions focus on the primary effects of an EITC on employment and the well-being of the “working poor”, we know of no study that points at some market failure that an EITC might correct, thereby providing a traditional welfare-economic rationale for the plan. We introduce two such arguments: First, if future productivity and, therefore, wages are risky, an EITC might bring about a (second order) statistically dominant distribution of net wages, which makes risk-averse workers better off and may – in the presence of a minimum income guarantee and sunk costs of entering the labour market – even be necessary to make them take up work at all. Second, employers are typically unable to recoup an investment in their employee’s general human capital by reducing wages, as employees can always find work elsewhere that pays the full marginal product. If some capital market imperfections prevent low-skilled employees from financing human capital investment themselves and an outside option – such as social security payments – makes the low-skilled refuse employment at an initially very low (“apprenticeship”) wage rate, an EITC can enhance welfare by reducing employers’ wage cost for untrained entrants, while forcing trained employees to finance this initial rebate.
Die Restrukturierung der Alterssicherung in Westeuropa seit 1990 - Großbritannien, Deutschland und Schweden im Vergleich
David Furch
Three distinctive old age pension systems can be distinguished in Western Europe, which differ fundamentally from one another. However, each of the three frameworks of welfare pointed out - represented by Great Britain, Germany and Sweden - was subject to substantial change since the beginning of the 1990s at the latest. Neither the respective direction of this development nor its valuation is yet clear. By analysing the old age pension systems this article demonstrates the three different patterns of welfare which will than be compared to the most important reforms of the last 15 years to get a differentiated valuation of the change. Finally a conclusion is drawn if the historically grown pension schemes remain valid these days.
Zwischen Integration und Ausgrenzung. Eine rassismuskritische Diskursanalyse am Beispiel der SPIEGEL-Berichterstattung über die Rütli-Schule
Katharina Höfel
This article reflects on the discourse of integration. It analyzes the article “Die verlorene Welt” and confronts it with outcomes obtained by the Critical Whiteness and Cultural Studies. The article focuses on the question, whether racist elements and normalizations are realized in the article. The analysis is made in a combination of Foucaults discourse analysis and strategies of the grounded theories. It will be shown who is object of the contemporary discourse and what is problematized in this context.
Revisited and Brand New
In this section, we publish reviews of one classical text and one momentous new book on the same topic. Please contact the editors if you can suggest a classic that deserves renewed attention along with an interesting new publication!
Books on Canada
Kolja Raube: Federalism and the Canadian State in the light of European Integration