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Göbel, Heike
3 articles of this author have been cited in the European Press Review so far.
Keep your nerve
Various economic research institutes have published dismal economic forecasts for Germany. But now is not the time to lose our nerve, writes the daily Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung: "Many indicators are pointing to the fact that Germany is facing hard times - also on its job market - that will continue long into next year. Even those who put little stock in economic forecasts will have a hard time passing off these new figures as collective doom and gloom. The assumptions on which the spring estimations are based are realistic from today's perspective, perhaps even somewhat optimistic, because they imply a slow recovery of the bank system. Yet this is also where economic researchers see the largest element of uncertainty, and they don't want to rule out the possibility of a repreated crisis of confidence. For that reason it is a good sign that the German government and economy are once more in concert. That will help us keep our nerve in this crisis - and save our energy should things get even worse."
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More from the press review on the subject » Labour market / Services, » Corporations, » Consumers, » Economic Policy, » Germany
Unwanted investors
The German government has passed a new foreign trade act giving it a right of veto when foreign investors from outside the EU and the European Free Trade Association seek to acquire a stake of more than 25 percent in German companies. The Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung criticises the law: "Anyone who lacks the seal of approval must be prepared for the German government to start looking into their every intention. ... The grand coalition [of the social democratic SPD and the conservative CDU] has justified this encroachment into capital transactions saying that in addition to profits, some new investors could also be interested in gaining political control, and even in destroying the German economy. In such cases politicians would be not entirely helpless even without the new law. ... [For that reason] the law could become a boomerang for the Germany as an economic location. The already scant capital could ... decide to take a wide berth around Germany, which is poor in resources. Our economy has more to fear from this danger than from any harm that might be wreaked by hostile investors."
» full article (external link, German)
More from the press review on the subject » Corporations, » Economic Policy, » Germany
How healthy is Europe's economy?
Germany's economic recovery is also beginning to make its mark on the job market. According to the latest statistics, the unemployment rate has fallen to below 10 percent. Heike Göbel sees this as a good sign but warns: "These figures certainly don't justify the jubilant celebrations among the politicians of the grand coalition. When the general secretary of the CDU, Ronald Pofalla, talks of this being 'a great signal for our nation' and claims that the new figures are the fruit of government policy, he is mocking the more than four million officially unemployed and the two million people in Germany who want to work but for various reasons are not included in the statistics... Moreover, the federal government itself is about to quash this positive trend. With their exaggerated tax increases and zig-zag course in social policy, the CDU and the SPD are jeopardising the progress that has been made on the job market – mostly without their help."
» full article (external link, German)
More from the press review on the subject » Domestic Policy, » Fiscal Policy, » Labour market / Services, » Tax Policy, » Germany
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