On November 9, the German Marshall Fund in Berlin marked the launch of its Young Transatlantic Network (YTN) in Germany with an evening debate on transatlantic economic governance titled “Economic Crisis or Crisis of Politics?” Started in Brussels in 2007, the YTN network brings together young professionals from diverse professional fields to meet senior experts from both sides of the Atlantic for informal and open discussions and networking across disciplines and nationalities. The event featured Almut Möller, Head of the European Policy Studies Program at the German Council on Foreign Relations, as moderator and Daniel Goffart, Editor for Economics and Politics of the Handelsblatt, and Bruce Stokes, Senior Transatlantic Fellow for Economics at the German Marshall Fund, as speakers. Participants came from across the United States and Europe and represented a variety of backgrounds and professions, including the sciences, politics, business, media and the arts.

In an energetic discussion panelists and participants explored a variety of economic and political driving forces underlying the current crisis. They touched upon diverging transatlantic approaches to monetary policy, lacking market confidence in political responses to the crisis, and the trade-offs between democratic and efficient decision-making in keeping up with the speed of global market developments.

Future events in the series will continue to address common transatlantic challenges with the aim to broaden transatlantic discussions and strengthen dialogue between both sides of the Atlantic.