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Abstract The Economic Stabilisation Fund (ESF) is one of several German state aid instruments set up to combat the economic fallout of COVID-19. The ESF offers a range of instruments from equity to hybrid capital, including silent participation and subordinated loans. In exceptional cases, the ESF may also become a direct shareholder. While the ESF stabilised only a relatively small number of companies, it constitutes an important building block in Germany’s overall business support framework. Due to its tailor-made stabilisation measures, companies of economic significance were successfully stabilised during the pandemic.

Abstract Digitalisation is bringing about far-reaching changes for the economy and society. Against this backdrop, the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy published a concept paper for a regulatory action programme to support the digital transformation in December 2020 as part of the Federal Government’s implementation strategy “Shaping Digitalisation”. Its core thesis is that the basic ideas of regulatory policy remain valid in the digital economy. Its principles are still pillars of the social market economy today and can provide clear orientation for economic policy in the future in an increasingly digital economy. One of the paper’s approaches to the implementation of a digital regulatory policy is examined in more detail: the data- and evidence-based further development of economic policy.

Abstract Digitisation is bringing far-reaching changes for businesses, employees and consumers. It impacts almost all areas of economic activity. The associated changes in the economy and society pose new challenges for economic policy: It must adapt the regulatory framework to enable innovations in new technologies and fields of application, promote Germany’s competitiveness in a digitised world and ensure competition in digital markets. Through experimental clauses, better digital infrastructure and targeted support for companies, it can ensure that innovations can be implemented and brought to market faster. Small and medium sized enterprises benefit particularly from this. Methods of ‘strategic foresight’ can also help to anticipate the future challenges of digitisation at an early stage and find economic policy answers.

This review addresses the digital edition of Nietzsche’s works, Nietzschesource. The project presents a definite step ahead in the history of editions of the works of the 19th century philosopher and writer and offers the best text available to date. Moreover, it includes a growing archive of digital facsimiles of Nietzsche’s manuscripts and thus allows a wide base of scholars to suggest corrections and emendations of the established text. As a digital edition, however, it is in many respects disappointing, for it fails to make use of the great possibilities modern editorial techniques offer, for instance, the possibility to enrich texts with contextual material such as information on persons and places mentioned in the texts.