With great sadness we learned of the far too early passing of our colleague Ansgar Belke, and extend our deepest sympathies to his family. Having long been a very active member of the editorial board, Ansgar in 2019 agreed to serve as a managing co-editor and has since shaped and elevated the profile of the journal in many ways. He was an outstanding scholar making numerous important advances in applied economics and economic policy, notably in monetary and international economics. His innovative contributions to the economic policy debate will be sorely missed. Ansgar applied the same enthusiasm and commitment to excellence to the journal. As anyone who ever met him during workshops and conferences will know, Ansgar was also a truly nice and generous person, always willing to help, provide incisive comments and engage in discussions about policy issues. We are truly grateful for all his contributions and will miss him!

The summer has also seen a transition in the organization of the journal. After four years of enthusiastic and energetic contributions, Fabian Baier – whom we congratulate for obtaining his PhD! – has stepped down as editorial assistant of the journal. We would like to take the opportunity to express our heartfelt gratitude for Fabian’s work, helping to improve the quality of published articles and managing the submissions to keep the turnaround on track. His broad research interests, strong organizational leadership and reliability have been great assets to the journal. We wish him well for the next stage in his career!

We welcome Tian Xiong as the new editorial assistant (already managing the Special Issue in No. 3). She takes over the position during the uniquely challenging circumstances created by the Covid pandemic. The editors have full trust in her great talents and her dedicated research and organizational support for the journal.

Christian Richter, Paul JJ Welfens and Holger Wolf