Does Germany Benefit from the Monetary Union?

In a recently published study commissioned by the Bertelsmann Foundation, researchers at Prognos AG came to the conclusion that Germany has significant advantages from the euro. To show this, the authors forecasted the development of Germany’s gross domestic product for the years 2013 to 2025 with Germany remaining in the Monetary Union and under the hypothetical scenario of a reintroduction of the Deutschmark in 2013. They reach the conclusion that with a return to a national currency, GDP would expand more slowly: at around 0.5 percentage points less than would be the case with retaining the euro. This article takes a critical look at the assumptions and the results of the study.