2024-09-05 05:01:28
The AfD is “poison for the economy”: The head of the German Economic Institute warns against voting for the party. The East is in a better position than perceived.
Shortly before the state elections in Saxony and Thuringia on Sunday, the head of the German Economic Institute (IW), Michael Hüther, called for openness and tolerance. These are the basis for the success of the German economy, Hüther explained on Tuesday. Economic pessimism and closed-mindedness, on the other hand, endanger the social market economy. The AfD in particular is “poison for our economy” primarily because of its anti-European stance.
Saxony, Thuringia and Brandenburg, where a new state parliament will also be elected on September 22nd, have “developed splendidly, better than the national average” in the past decade, explained Hüther. However, a recent IW survey shows that people in the east do not perceive this positive development. One in five respondents believes they live in a region that has been left behind.
Populists take advantage of this “difference between perception and reality,” explained Hüther. They also ignored the facts when it came to the question of what the East needs for the future. The AfD and its supporters, for example, stubbornly resisted the expansion of renewable energies – even though this would ensure cheap energy. The party also stirred up sentiment against immigrants, even though the East German economy was heavily dependent on them.
In a survey conducted by the IW among around 900 companies in East and West, the AfD’s anti-European stance was identified as a major risk. “No wonder, because companies are dependent on the internal market, open borders and foreign skilled workers,” explained Hüther. If Germany were to leave the EU, 690 billion euros in economic power and 2.5 million jobs would be lost.
The IW boss called on the centrist parties not to downplay economic successes. But politicians must also name the “obvious problems”. According to Hüther, these are unequal living conditions between town and country, excessive EU bureaucracy, insecurity among the population due to immigration and structural change.
“Precisely because these problems exist and the political fringes exploit them, openness is required,” argued the IW boss, openness “towards other people and cultures, but also towards new technologies and change.” This is the basis for the success of the German economy and “our prosperity.”