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Esken: "It was transparent that it was a tactic"
After the Karlsruhe court decision, the traffic light coalition grapples with a substantial 17 billion euro deficit. ntv's politics head, Blome, hints at a political crisis on Markus Lanz, but Esken, the SPD leader, believes differently and makes an unexpected statement.
On the ZDF talk show, Saskia Esken finds herself in challenging territory, explaining the consequences of the Karlsruhe court ruling, which has put the federal government in a tight spot with its enormous deficit. Despite Chancellor Scholz's and Minister Lindner's efforts to delay this issue until the end of this year, a government-level discussion on the federal budget is improbable this Wednesday, and a parliamentary discussion on the 2024 budget is highly unlikely next week.
Pressing for clarity, Markus Lanz invites three panelists, including ntv's and RTL's Blome, to discuss the federal budget within the first segment of his show. Blome identifies a political crisis, while Esken and the economic advisor to the Finance Minister, Lars Feld, have opposing views. Esken views the repurposing of coronavirus aid funding as a tactic, stating that it was "obvious to everyone."
Esken further clarified on Maybrit Illner's ZDF talk show last week, that the government was indeed employing a tactic. An unyielding Lanz probes further for specific details, yet Esken refrains from providing any definitive answers. Nikolaus Blome supplies additional commentary, suggesting half of the experts had warned against such a move, as it was 50% risky. Even for expert players, such a gamble is only advisable if they possess exceptional nerves and resources.
In a later comment, Blome compared the government's move to a magic trick, a means to reconcile contentious issues that were left unresolved in the coalition negotiations.
Feld, meanwhile, contests the label of trickery, preferring to discuss budgetary practices: the way federal and state governments create special funds or hidden budgets is complex. He acknowledges the concern with the reallocation of selected loan funds, stating if people were in favor of investing in Intel, they should pay the hefty sums required to accommodate the industry's transition to climate change. However, Feld suggests that importing steel rather than producing it locally may be more advantageous, emphasizing Germany's role in a highly specialized, interconnected global economy.
Esken disagrees, highlighting Germany's dependence on cheap energy sources like Russia and emphasizing the preservation of its industrial core. Supply chain disruptions faced during the pandemic further cements Esken's conviction.
Blome adds, acknowledging the current bumps in globalization, that governments pursuing industrial policies traditionally viewed as outdated is a logical response to the changing global landscape.
Despite Feld's concerns on the demographic shift, which could result in a job shortage with new manufacturing jobs, Esken advocates for safeguarding Germany's industrial core to prevent dependence on foreign countries.
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On Markus Lanz's ZDF show, Saskia Esken, the SPD leader, debates the impact of Karlsruhe court ruling on the traffic light coalition's substantial budget deficit. While ntv's Blome suggests a political crisis, Esken holds her ground and dismisses Markus Lanz's claims of trickery in the government's budgeting practices.
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The German government's attempts to deal with the messy 17 billion euro budget deficit ensuing from the Karlsruhe ruling come with multiple strategies, but there's no clear-cut declaration from Esken on her stance in the provided sources. However, in the election campaign run-up, the SPD and Greens proposed a debt-financed investment fund to stimulate businesses, a controversial move opposing the debt brake rule that limits annual structural deficits to 0.35% of GDP [2].
As for the trickery claims, they refer to the finance minister's plan to utilize "global unallocated funds," ultimately concealing excessive spending proposals from the SPD and the Greens [1]. The opposition party criticized the move, which intensified the coalition's demise.
