2024-07-11 06:51:08
The simple “oomph” soon became the “double-oomph”. Now the more matter-of-fact “growth initiative” is supposed to fix it. Olaf Scholz has coined many a slogan in his career.
With his “turning point”, Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD) has even made it into international parlance. The “growth initiative” now presented to stimulate the economy sounds much less “boomy”, but is another example of a financial package to which Scholz gives a name-based spin:
At the beginning of the Corona crisis, Scholz, still Federal Finance Minister of the black-red coalition, launched an unlimited loan program in March 2020. “This is the bazooka with which we are now doing what is necessary,” he said at the time. The term for an anti-tank weapon stands figuratively for virtually unlimited financial firepower.
Another Corona pandemic: The Federal Minister of Finance presented an economic stimulus package with billions in aid and relief in June 2020. “We want to come out of the crisis with a bang,” said Scholz at the time. The package provides for relief on VAT and for families as well as bridging aid.
In response to Russia’s attack on Ukraine in February 2022, Germany wants to massively increase its defense spending. Scholz – now Chancellor – announced in the Bundestag, among other things, a one-off special fund of 100 billion euros for the Bundeswehr. “We are experiencing a turning point,” he says.
Due to the sharp rise in energy prices, particularly as a result of Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine, the Chancellor announced state support for energy supplies and energy price caps in September 2022. The aid package has a volume of up to 200 billion euros. “You could say this is a double whammy,” said Scholz.
Scholz had always referred to the current financial package to stimulate the economy as a “growth booster”. Now the Chancellor seems to have been thwarted: When a journalist asked him about the word creation, Scholz replied that this time he had chosen “growth initiative”. “Please spread the word!” the Chancellor called out. The journalist then wanted to know how Scholz came up with these creations – whether he thought them up himself or had “spin doctors” at his side. The Chancellor’s answer: “You shouldn’t imagine it to be overly complicated.” Sometimes the thought just comes: “So that everyone always talks about the same thing, you need a name.”