On 25 February 2003, the Roman Herzog Institute (Roman-Herzog-Institut) was launched at an inaugural conference on the economic effects of an ageing society held at the Technical University in Munich. About 350 guests celebrated the launch of the Institute, which is named after Professor Roman Herzog, a former German President, who famously said that Germany needed to be jolted ('Ruck') into reform, and who continues to seek substantial reforms in the German economy. The Institute results from an initiative of the Association of Bavarian Business (Vereinigung der Bayerischen Wirtschaft, vbw) and the Bavarian Metal and Electrical Industry (Bayerische Metall- und Elektroindustrie, VBM). 'Few developments will more profoundly shape Germany’s destiny than ageing and population decline,' said Randolf Rodenstock, the president of vbw and VBM, in his introductory remarks. He added that political concepts should open up long-term perspectives for business and society. 'We have to know realistic longer-term trend predictions, in order to get balanced decisions by policy-makers and firms,' stated the patron of the institute, Professor Herzog.
February 2003 saw the launch in Munich of the Roman Herzog Institute, a new research body named after a former German President and leading proponent of economic reform. The institute is the result of an initiative by Bavarian business and industry associations, and will analyse long-term reform options for Germany, which faces a looming crisis related to the ageing population, with particular regard to the world of work of tomorrow.
On 25 February 2003, the Roman Herzog Institute (Roman-Herzog-Institut) was launched at an inaugural conference on the economic effects of an ageing society held at the Technical University in Munich. About 350 guests celebrated the launch of the Institute, which is named after Professor Roman Herzog, a former German President, who famously said that Germany needed to be jolted ('Ruck') into reform, and who continues to seek substantial reforms in the German economy. The Institute results from an initiative of the Association of Bavarian Business (Vereinigung der Bayerischen Wirtschaft, vbw) and the Bavarian Metal and Electrical Industry (Bayerische Metall- und Elektroindustrie, VBM). 'Few developments will more profoundly shape Germany’s destiny than ageing and population decline,' said Randolf Rodenstock, the president of vbw and VBM, in his introductory remarks. He added that political concepts should open up long-term perspectives for business and society. 'We have to know realistic longer-term trend predictions, in order to get balanced decisions by policy-makers and firms,' stated the patron of the institute, Professor Herzog.
In this regard, researchers at the Cologne Institute for Business Research (Institut der deutschen Wirtschaft Köln, IW) will examine for the Roman Herzog Institute how the ageing 'revolution' is likely to transform the German economy and society over the next half century. Furthermore, it will assess steps that enterprises and the government can take in order to be prepared for the challenges they will face. Professor Gerhard Fels, director of IW, stated in his presentation that a shrinking labour force would not necessarily be a miraculous cure for current, and severe, unemployment problems in Germany: 'In order to combat the negative side-effects of the looming changes that ageing will bring, we rather have to resolve current and future problems, first, by shortening inefficiently long education and vocational training periods, second, by prolonging work life, and, finally, by investing more in human capital.'
Other speakers included: Professor Börsch-Supan, director of the Mannheim research institute into the economics of ageing (MEA); Professor Eckart Bomsdorf of the University of Cologne; Professor Klaus Zimmermann, president of the German Institute for Economic Research (Deutsches Institut für Wirtschaftsforschung, DIW); Professor Manfred Erhard, general secretary of the Foundation of Donors of German Science (Stifterverband für die deutsche Wissenschaft); and Professor Tim Congdon of Lombard Street Research, London.
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