Let it not be said that there is no German resistance to Black Zero Worship. Papers like DIE ZEIT have cast doubt on the wisdom of the Schwarze Null as far back as September :
“If the SPD and Union agree on one issue, then this one: The black zero must stand. The … Chancellor and her Minister of Finance have reaffirmed it … on the occasion of the presentation of the budget … Strictly speaking, they do not have to do that. The black zero is not in the bill. It is also controversial among economists. The advocates say the policy makes for solid public finances. The opponents say it prevents important investments in the future, for example for education. The camp of the proponents is getting smaller with each passing day – and the opponent’s bigger. Even business leaders are calling on the government to spend more.”
If true this may encourage Germany’s “one and only” Keynesean” Peter Bofinger and other dissident voices like tagesspiegel’s Harald Schumann who has been trying for years to talk some money sense into his Mitbürger and has just written an(other) article on why the government needs to get over the “Schuldenbremse”, invest and enlighten the electorate about money realities.
Here is Schumann talking to Paul Krugman in 2015 :
Optimists may interpret the latest pension package agreement as another sign of German “budgetary easing”. As Andreas Rinke und Holger Hansen write for Reuters, the extra $1.65 billion “… is likely to be welcomed internationally after the European Commission and the International Monetary Fund have urged Germany for years to use its hefty budget surpluses to stimulate domestic demand through higher wages and pensions.”
The Economist picks up on “Coffers full, Country broken!” grumbles but figures that the government will continue to resist any serious Black Zero resistance:
Another dissident is economist Heiner Flassbeck who recently wrote that “The world has a problem with Germany. In Germany, however, people are completely unwilling to admit it. Germany has become a prime example of collective cognitive dissonance.” More
More Flassbeck articles in English
Lesen Sie hier GaiaMoney’s Anmerkungen zu Flassbeck’s “Gescheiterte Globalisierung”
To collect more dissident Volkswirtschaftliche Stimmen GaiaMoney has started a special page on “Schwarze Null Widerstand” – suggestions welcome !
