Christian Odendahl

Christian Odendahl

Chief economist (Based in Berlin)
Areas of expertise 

Eurozone, ECB, Germany, fiscal and monetary policy, structural reforms, political economy of economic integration, international trade, financial regulation.

How Greece can recover from Covid

09 February 2021
The pandemic is adding to Greece’s economic problems. But the EU recovery fund, if spent well, offers Greece a chance to turn a corner.

Preparing for a CDU-Green coalition in Berlin

01 February 2021
Germany is often slow to adjust policies that have served it well. But the next election is one of the better opportunities to make progress. 

Ditchley conference report: COVID-19, the global economy and the return of power politics

22 January 2021
At the CER's Ditchley economics conference, participants discussed the global role of the EU in the aftermath of the pandemic, with faltering trade and investment and growing strategic competition between the US and China.

Choosing Merkel's successor: None of the above?

12 January 2021
The competition for ‘Merkel voters’ has started, and the CDU needs a leader able to keep her broad coalition of supporters together. That may well be health minister Jens Spahn.

Will Germany rethink defence, too?

27 July 2020
COVID-19 has forced Germany to rethink its economic orthodoxy. A similar rethink of its defence and security outlook will take time. 

The recovery fund faces a tricky passage

29 May 2020
The Commission's proposed recovery fund is macroeconomically meaningful. The 'frugals' should focus less on negotiating away the transfers to harder-hit countries, and more on how the money is spent.

Three ways COVID-19 will cause economic divergence in Europe

21 May 2020
Europe's economies will diverge further as a result of COVID-19, as the economic impact will be larger in Southern Europe. Fiscal transfers would help to restart the EU's 'convergence machine'.
A proposal for a coronabond: The Pandemic Solidarity Instrument

A proposal for a coronabond: The Pandemic Solidarity Instrument

06 April 2020
The economic hit is so severe, and the demands on fiscal policy so high, that the EU needs to share the burden between stronger and weaker countries.

The two economic stages of coronavirus

26 March 2020
European policy-makers must offset the huge costs of containing the virus, while keeping debt sustainable in all eurozone member-states. But they also need a plan to stimulate a V-shaped recovery.
Milan airport March 2020

Bold policies needed to counter the coronavirus recession

10 March 2020
The COVID-19 crisis is serious, and will have severe economic consequences. But if matched by aggressive action from fiscal and monetary authorities, the economic fallout is manageable.