"The world has always been changing, but seldom at such a rapid pace and on so many fronts at the same time as now. The aftermath of the covid pandemic, the need to decarbonize our economies, the Ukraine war and the shifting geopolitical situation, a sudden energy crisis, a spike in fuel prices and inflation, a looming recession, ballooning public debt, technological disruption of labor markets, retrenchment of globalization, ageing societies and workforces, the rise of populism and nationalism and much more present a bewildering array of challenges to European policymakers.

In fact, in the last couple of years the world has already changed considerably — and it is not changing back.

This calls for creative policymaking and for some institutional redesign which, in turn, calls for sound, evidence-based economic policy analysis and advice on a wide range of fronts.

That was the reasoning behind the decision to bundle our European policy analysis activities under the EconPol brand, CESifo's economic policy platform, which is supported by the ifo Institute. EconPol leverages CESifo's globe-spanning network of 1,800 economists and the ifo Institute's decades-long research and policy advice expertise.

One of the key vehicles to bring our economic analysis and policy advice to a broad range of policymakers, academia and the public at large is this journal, EconPol Forum (formerly CESifo Forum). It brings together researchers and policymakers from a wide range of countries and institutions to exchange findings and views and thus enrich economic policy debate.

We have structured the EconPol Forum into four sections. The first, “Policy Debate of the Hour”, recognizes the constantly evolving nature of policy challenges, focusing on the most pressing issues of the times. Leading experts and researchers working on the cutting edge of the relevant fields share their findings, insights and policy conclusions."

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