The peak of the omicron wave seems to have been overcome – so it’s time for the next crisis. With Maybrit Illner on ZDF it becomes clear how big the challenge is.
Berlin – Energy prices are rising by 20%, the cost of food by 5%, services still by 3%. Some Germans are more affected by rising inflation, others less so, but one thing is clear: rising inflation is a problem that not only Germany but the world is struggling with. But where are the causes? Is it because of Putin and a possible war in Eastern Europe, because of the unbridled financial markets, because of the costs of climate policy?
Maybrit Illner asked all these questions on ZDF at the start of the discussion. Annabel Oelmann from the consumer advice center in Bremen said very clearly: “Corona already made the coffers tight, working from home increases energy costs, and the higher prices overwhelm many people.” Oelmann criticized the state for inflation, because 40% of the energy costs are Taxes, starting there, would be a means of helping people directly.
Maybrit Illner (ZDF): Friedrich Merz gratefully takes up the topic – and sees the cause in the Greens
A proposal that was entirely in the spirit of the new CDU chairman Friedrich Merz, who gratefully accepted his – unloved – opposition role and called for tax cuts on petrol to relieve commuters. He also pointed out the many causes of inflation, in addition to rising energy prices, there are supply bottlenecks that affect cars or electronic products, for example. Subliminally, Merz tried to criticize the energy policy of the Greens, the subsidies for renewable energies, the politically desired phase-out of nuclear energy, the higher costs for petrol engines.
Is the inflation a Green inflation? Maybrit Illner appropriately asked the Vice-President of the German Bundestag, Katrin Göring-Eckardt from the Greens, who of course denied it: “Green energy is already cheaper,” Göring-Eckhardt claimed, which seems at least under complex . The big question is how to reconcile the necessary energy transition and climate protection with the risk of constantly rising inflation.
| Maybrit Illner on ZDF | The guests of the show from February 17th, 2022 |
|---|---|
| Christian Lindner | FDP, federal finance minister, party chairman |
| Friedrich Merz | CDU, party and faction leader |
| Katrin Goering-Eckardt | B’90/The Greens, Vice President of the German Bundestag |
| Henrike Rossbach | Journalist, capital city correspondent “Süddeutsche Zeitung” |
| Annabel Oelman | Member of the board of the consumer advice center in Bremen, business lawyer |
Maybrit Illner (ZDF): Lindner wants to take care of the middle class, but doesn’t know how
“We won’t leave people alone with rising prices,” said Federal Finance Minister Christian Lindner of the FDP, who was as statesmanlike as he was cliched, and immediately followed with the uncontroversial comment: “We have to take care of the country’s broad middle class.”
However, how this is to be done remains unclear. A few tax cuts here, some bridging funds there, but one problem remains: “Germany will remain an energy importing country,” emphasized Lindner, also due to the political decision to phase out nuclear energy, it will remain necessary to import energy for the foreseeable future, what among other things also means: LPG from the USA, which is harmful to the climate.
Maybrit Illner (ZDF): Rarely has a talk show been so civilized and informative
So you can hardly do it right, that much became clear in Maybrit Illner’s program on ZDF. Could the European Central Bank try to exert more influence? Henrike Roßbach, journalist at the “Süddeutsche Zeitung” pointed out the problem that the current federal government is facing: It actually makes sense from a fiscal point of view to stop the price increase first.
To the broadcast
Maybrit Illner on ZDF: broadcast on February 17, 2022 on the topic “Price shock after the pandemic – prosperity in danger?”. For the whole show with Maybrit Illner in the ZDF media library.
On the other hand, the federal government has undertaken massive investment projects, which, however, due to a lack of workers and raw materials, can easily contribute to increasing demand and thus fueling inflation. Finance Minister Lindner emphasized the importance of the debt brake, Friedrich Merz called for the ECB to raise interest rates, Henrike Roßbach was curious to see how the traffic light coalition would succeed in reconciling such different demands, goals and plans.
Maybe it was the complicated topic, but rarely was a talk show round too civilized and yet also informative at the same time as it was that evening with Maybrit Illner on ZDF. However, one reason for this may also have been that those involved in all parties are aware of how big the problem of rising inflation is, how urgently it needs to be solved, but above all: how difficult it will be to find this solution. (Michael Meyns)
