Ulrich Fritsche is an economist who is affiliated with the University Hamburg, Department Economics and Politics, as an assistant professor and as a senior economic researcher with the German Institute for Economic Research (DIW Berlin). He holds a diploma and a Ph.D. degree both from the Free University Berlin and has been involved in applied policy analysis, forecasting, and broad macroeconomic research for a decade. His main topics of research include: monetary policy analysis, European integration, the interaction of labor market reforms and macroeconomics performance, and inflation expectation dynamics. Ulrich Fritsche served as consultant to UNCTAD and for several projects in developing and transition countries. Check out http://www.ulrich-fritsche.net for further information.