Hubert Fromlet: Germans less negative than (I) expected
23 Jun 2009 | Posted By: JIBS Stories
Last week, I paid visits or listened to influential German business leaders, politicians, academics and journalists. My expectations about the mood of “Corporate Germany†were quite low. But I did not meet a country in despair – despite the ongoing global financial and economic crisis. On the contrary, German decision-makers seem to be (somewhat) more optimistic about the future compared to the analysis of many financial economists and journalists, particularly when it comes to the medium term. Pessimists, however, still can be found in car industry and other major parts of manufacturing industry. And warnings come steadily about an issue that concerns most Germans: the rapidly increasing public deficit caused by the crisis.
The Germans fear future generational conflicts. Chancellor Angela Merkel and Germany’s new political star – the recently appointed minister of economics – Karl-Theodor zu Guttenberg (37) get many domestic points for their more cautious fiscal stance compared to many other governments in the OECD area. I have few doubts that chancellor Merkel will win the next election on September 27 this year. On the other hand, one cannot be sure about the composition of the next German government.
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