Industrial Policy: Capitalists in a Nervous Mood

This should be a “wake-up call” for capitalists and industry leaders who are calling for “urgent reforms and investments”, because around a fifth of industrial value creation in the Federal Republic of Germany is under threat. Seriously. That’s according to a study released Tuesday in Berlin by the Federation of German Industries (BDI) and the German Institute for Economic Research (IW).

On the same day, BDI President Siegfried Russwurm said that “Germany as an industrial location” is “at a crossroads”. “The risk of deindustrialization due to the silent migration and abandonment of many small and medium-sized enterprises is constantly increasing and in some cases has already occurred.” According to the study authors, additional private and public investments of 1.4 trillion euros are needed by 2030 to make Germany internationally “competitive” in the future. For example, a climate-neutral transition from the “fossil” energy sector. But a rapid economic stimulus is not the solution. On the other hand, a “big hit” must be made in order for Germany to become an economic powerhouse.

There is a lot of talk and superlatives from Russwurm and Co. But the investment shift involves “finally solving the real problems of this country,” Janine Wissler said in a statement Tuesday. And what is Federal Finance Minister Christian Lindner (FDP) doing? He wants to “save the country from the crisis,” the Left Party leader continued. “If we don’t invest in roads, railways and schools now, we will miss connections and lose our social perspective.”

Christian Leye also criticized those who “refuse to invest in traffic lights.” The self-proclaimed progressive coalition has now degenerated into a deindustrialization coalition, the union’s general secretary Sahra Wagenknecht (BSW) said on Tuesday. jW. And furthermore, there is no way to avoid debt-restraint reforms that would enable massive public investment “to prevent the economic foundation from melting away.”

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