2023-08-09 20:38:03
The discussions about an investment or economic stimulus program have actually ended with the cabinet decision on Wednesday. This program has existed for a long time, it’s called the Climate and Transformation Fund, or KTF for short.
The traffic light coalition wants to spend almost 212 billion euros over the next four years to promote Germany’s transformation towards climate neutrality. Even if the Inflation Reduction Act ends up costing more than the $370 billion that the American government has put in its shop window for a period of ten years, the impression that the whole world is happily handing out money while Germany’s savings are shattered is misleading. The cornucopia rules in Germany too.
Expenditures increase again
Compared to the plan from last year, the expenditure from the KTF should again increase significantly. The traffic light coalition interprets the terms climate protection and transformation more than ever. New heaters, new chip factories, new sources of raw materials – everything that sounds like the future is subsidized.
Subsidies can undoubtedly be useful as a start-up aid for the use of new technologies. But if, for example, the switch to hydrogen in industry is subsidized over a period of fifteen years, there can no longer be any talk of it. And no matter how understandable the joy about settlements like those of Intel and TSMC are: They are not a sign of the quality of Germany as a business location, as the chancellor puts it, but the result of political competition. The taxpayer pays the bill – in the case of TSMC, half of the investment costs.
Julia Löhr Published/Updated: , Recommendations: 20 Julia Löhr, Berlin Published/Updated: , Recommendations: 6 Julia Löhr, Berlin Published/Updated: , Recommendations: 25
It is amazing that there is no longer any resistance in society to this industrial policy, which invests a lot of money in prestige green projects, instead of improving the conditions for everyone in the country, companies and citizens, for example through lower taxes and more investments in the education system.
Perhaps the government’s handling of climate money will trigger a rethink. Actually, the traffic light coalition wanted to return the income from CO2 pricing to the citizens. Unfortunately, given all the new expenses, there is no money left for that now.
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