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Schäfer, Ulrich
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4 articles of this author have been cited in the European Press Review so far.
Scrapping bonus useless
The money allocated to financing Germany's scrapping bonus ran out yesterday (Wednesday). As part of its programme for stimulating the economy the government subsidised the purchase of new cars to the tune of five billion euros. The left-liberal Süddeutsche Zeitung doubts the benefits of the bonus: "So now we can expect another crash in the car industry to follow the scrapping boom. Because those Germans who hurried to buy a new car would have bought themselves another car in the next few years anyway, and now they can be ruled out as potential buyers. Meanwhile the number of car plants and car manufacturers is as high as ever. Experts warned before the scrapping hype that there were overcapacities of at least 30 percent in the global car industry. … So the scrapping bonus may have fulfilled its short-term purpose but the crisis in the car industry has by no means been averted. On the contrary: this crisis will be felt all the more in the months to come and thus not only give carmakers a hard time, but also politicians."
» full article (external link, German)
More from the press review on the subject » Corporations, » Consumers, » Economic Policy, » Germany
Opel is everywhere
If the German state helps one company it must help them all - after all, we're talking about jobs here, the left-liberal daily Süddeutsche Zeitung writes commenting on government aid: "The crisis at Opel and its parent company General Motors is mainly home-made, the consequence of mistaken products; and it was compounded by the fact that for years there have been too many carmakers in this world. So it has little to do with the distortions on the financial markets. But Opel owns four plants in four German states - and thus has a certain blackmailing potential. In the end the government is likely to give in to the pressure and - even if the minister of economics doesn't like the idea - grant billions in aid. [German Economics Minister] Karl-Theodor zu Guttenberg, foresees that the state will put itself in a precarious position: If it helps one company it will have to help all the others; if it saves thousands of jobs in Rüsselsheim and Bochum it will have to do the same elsewhere. Then Opel will be everywhere."
» full article (external link, German)
More from the press review on the subject » Fiscal Policy, » Infrastructure / Travel and Transport, » Labour, » Germany, » Global
The dispute over state aid for Opel
In Germany there are calls for politicians to nationalise carmaker Opel, releasing it from the grip of its heavily encumbered US parent company General Motors. The left-liberal daily Süddeutsche Zeitung comments: "Whether the rescue of Opel, which will be paid for by the taxpayer, would indeed be in society's interest is debatable. The billions in aid will be greeted with a thunder of applause in Bochum, Eisenach and Rüsselheim where Opel has its facilities, but few Germans are likely to be willing to fork out higher taxes to save one company after another. For if we help Opel we must also help Volkswagen, BMW and Daimler. If we spend billions on rescuing the carmakers we must also support the major suppliers. If we help Conti or Schaeffler we must also help the manufacturers who build the production lines for the car industry. Saving banks can be justified by pointing out that otherwise the entire financial system and consequently the economy would collapse, but with industrial companies, no matter how big, this argument doesn't apply."
» full article (external link, German)
More from the press review on the subject » Fiscal Policy, » Economic Policy, » Germany, » U.S., » Global
Airbus
According to Ulrich Schäfer, it's right that "Airbus is acting now instead of waiting a couple of years. It's right that in the midst of a boom in aircraft construction the company is taking steps to change its internal structure and sink costs. Only then will Airbus be able to survive the inevitable downswing. And there's another reason why the company should act now: the A380 debacle has shown that only the reciprocal apportioning of blame works at Airbus - not the division of labour... However, it's not only the managers who feel responsible for Airbus but also the governments in Berlin and Paris, whose predecessors founded the company. And because of their intervention last week, the company's rescue package has stopped halfway. Now Airbus plans to transfer most of the aircraft construction to Hamburg but still keep some of it in France... So there won't be a great improvement in the big muddle at the company."
» to the homepage (external link, Süddeutsche Zeitung)
More from the press review on the subject » EU Policy, » Infrastructure / Travel and Transport, » Corporations, » Germany, » France, » Europe
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