Senioren-Union Group Visit to MPIfG

On November 12, 2025, the MPIfG welcomed around 20 members of the CDU Cologne’s Senioren-Union for one of the visits it regularly hosts for schools, students, scholarship holders, and other interested groups. Dustin Voss, senior researcher at the MPIfG, presented his research project exploring generational conflict in times of crisis and the role of fiscal policy. In his talk he examined attitudes among different age groups to Germany’s debt brake and how the concept of intergenerational equity is interpreted differently in political discourse – both as an argument for avoiding debt and for public investment in infrastructure and climate protection. The visitors shared their own experiences with pensions, family, and inheritance in what was a lively discussion, and were interested to learn more about the distribution of fiscal burdens between the generations. The group rounded off their visit with a guided tour of the Institute library.