These are just verbal flashes in the cloudy Berlin sky, but they also sound quite pessimistic: Federal Economy Minister Robert Habeck announced a “reform drive” immediately after having to admit that the economic outlook for 2024 is extremely modest at 0.2 percent. After the “Bazooka” and “Wumms” and “Doppelwumms” of the German traffic light government cost dearly, many have high blood pressure in view of the promise of the “reform amplifier”: how much it costs. us again?

“Economy on the brink of collapse – traffic lights without course,” asks “Maybrit Illner” worriedly in the circle of chairs where two members of the traffic light coalition are sitting: Federal Finance Minister Christian Lindner (FDP) and Green Party leader Ricarda Lang. . The economy is represented by Bertram Kawlath, a medium-sized entrepreneur and also vice-president of the German Association of Mechanical and Industrial Engineering (VDMA) and Clemens Fuest, president of ifo. So that part of Germany that co-financed “Bazooka”, “Wumms” and “Doppelwumms”. And now both hopes and fears the “driving force of reforms”.

Fuest: “Cannons and Butter” doesn't work at the same time

Ricarda Lang and Christian Linder state right at the beginning of the talk show that Ukraine should not skimp on aid. And turning Germany into “defense” again cannot be done for little money. Where does the money come from? On Germany's economy, says Lindner, which is why he stresses: “Economic strength is a factor in geopolitics, and there is a lot of catching up to do here.”

According to Clemens Fuest, this is not enough, at the same time the welfare society must be cut: “Guns and butter – it would be nice if it were possible. But this is the land of milk and honey,” he states. Direction by Ricarda Lang. It is simply not possible to finance everything at once, politicians must be more honest with citizens. A small consolation from the President of Ifo: “We have the means to continue financing basic things.” However, this means, on the contrary, that anything but the basics can become cramped.

“Doing is like wanting, only more intense”

“We are the ones who can and want to make the cake bigger,” says the VDMA man. “Sometimes it feels like we're walking in a swamp.” An example of the Law of Growth Opportunities: “It shrinks more and more” and the government couldn't even handle this bonsai law. Kawlathi's calendar says towards the traffic light: “Doing is like wanting, only more blatant.”

In Lindner's catalog of measures to strengthen the German economy, subsidies no longer play a role: “In general, we need to ensure that Germany is no longer so expensive as a location.” He also believes that tax incentives are necessary for companies and promises that this will happen despite the initial lack of income: “In a few years it will pay for itself.”

Ricarda Lang, on the other hand, doesn't think it's “affordable at the moment.” But Kawlath also speaks against subsidies, or at least those that aren't open to the technology: “You run the risk of favoring certain technologies and it's not effective.” What he wants from the federal government: “We could get growth back, learning as a funding tool.

A long wish list

But the divergence of the traffic light coalition concerns the economy, says Clemens Fuest: “We need the policy to be credible, so that investors know where they stand.” Bertram Kawlath also wants less regulatory anger from politicians, keyword supply chain. law: “I often see mistrust of the economy.”

Despite the differences, Lindner is at least not thinking out loud about a change of government: “My goal now is to achieve an economic turnaround: away from distribution and toward creating prosperity. My confidence is still high that it will succeed in this constellation.” Because the Greens and the SPD also know that ecological and social projects can only succeed in a country with a strong economic foundation. A little warning from him: “At least that's my hope.”

At the end, Ricarda Lang also reiterated the will of the Greens to hold on in the coalition: “We have to fix it together and I am convinced that we can do it.” Just because the will to cooperate in traffic lights seem unbroken, be here Kawlath quotes again: “Doing is like wanting, only more intense.”