Reducing burdens on the economy - Volker Wieland in the podcast "Beyond the obvious" #249

Less regulation and bureaucracy, tax cuts and a reform of the pension system - these are the measures that Prof. Volker Wieland recommends to make the German economy more competitive again. In the podcast "Beyond the obvious"-#249, he called for the burdens on the economy to be reduced.

Wieland referred to the strict data protection regulations, which also contributed to Germany being left behind in new technological developments. On the other hand, the administration needs to be more digitalized and modernized. "The information requirements are a burden on companies." A separate immigration authority for skilled workers and managers could help to improve processes and facilitate the immigration of skilled workers.

Germany urgently needs to become more competitive, demanded Wieland. The German economy is still at the level it was in 2019, he said. "We are over-regulated and are slowing down the economy too much". Germany is strong in the automotive, electronics and chemical industries. "We need a framework so that industry can grow and we need more pillars. Germany has missed out on too much in knowledge-intensive services such as IT.

According to Wieland, the debt brake is not an obstacle. A look at Switzerland, which has grown at a similar rate to the United States, but has a low debt ratio and is sticking to the debt brake, shows that this is not mutually exclusive. Growth and debt levels must come together. "It makes sense to go into debt in certain times as long as the economy is growing."

The current government is completely ignoring the pension problem, warned Wieland. The pension system urgently needs to be restructured, he said.

Wieland also gave some insights into his time at the German Council of Economic Experts (SVR), of which he was a member from 2013 to April 2022, and explained the processes involved in preparing the annual report in the podcast.

Podcast "Beyond the obvious" #249: "Deutschlands Abstieg" starting 26:00 min