Fiscal stimulus is all the hype and is often cited as the only tool left to steer away from a recession, especially in the Eurozone. Germany might be just warming up to the idea. We also look at solution to the growing issue of unaffordable housing and how to actually build more – not just fuel buying with cheap debt.

Japan’s Government Will Soon Make a Profit on Its Huge Debt (CEPR) Amids raising worries about Japan’s tax lift from 8% to 10%, this commentary reminds that given the negative nominal rate, the debt service burden is virtually zero. Debt is now becoming a source of revenue.

It’s Time for German Fiscal Expansion (Project Syndicate) Advocates that it now makes sense for Germany to spend more without fears of overheating. It should spend more on infrastructure maintenance and modernization, and it could cut payroll taxes. This piece similarly supports fiscal action for the wider Eurozone.

Estimating Regional Wealth in Germany: How Different Are East and West Really? (Kreutzmann, Marek, Salvati, Schmid) Almost 30 years since the German reunification, this paper finds the East lagging in significantly in regional indicators, most notably private net wealth. Each eastern German federal state private wealth comes to less than half of the national mean.

We Cannot Build Our Way Out of Inequality (VOX) The path to a solution of the housing crisis in large metropolitan areas might be to cut regulation in order to build more and denser housing in metro regions (upzoning). The answer is not simple and needs combining education, social, health, and housing policies.

To Tackle Housing Affordability in Canada, Build MoreHouses (IMF) Argues that to solve the lack of affordable housing in Canada (and most of the Western World), we need accelerated process of supplying houses. Sounds simple – but governments have been too focused on making borrowing quicker and accessible – which fuels house price surges.