The program began with the weather announcement: "The earth is warming, but the economy is cooling down," said host Maybrit Illner and had outlined her theme: "Downturn, jobs and climate rescue - risking our wealth?"
The pro of the evening: The art of the experienced talk show guest is to smile away at criticism that is about to pass, but turn up the sound when the moment comes. Peter Altmaier, Minister of Economic Affairs of the CDU, dominates this art. When the capitalist-critical DeGrowth activist Nina Treu called for reforming the economic system because "no infinite growth is possible" and instead striving for "the good life for all," he found it "well intentioned". But when the Green Party Chairman Robert Habeck - the political competitor - said "black zero", he was in a stir.
Federal Minister of Economics @peteraltmaier (CDU) wants to stick to the so-called black zero in the federal budget. No debt is "an achievement".
➡️ https://t.co/hBCmdu3xLB
@BMWi_Bund #Rezession #Economy #Starkeeping #Dressdown #Climate package #illner pic.twitter.com/adqhcrYnJF
The other pro of the evening: Conversely, the game worked well. Habeck can wonderfully stare down the eyes to wordlessly contradict a post. But when Altmaier said: "I do not want to incur debts to the detriment of the young generation", as one has seen in Portugal or Greece, where that leads - when sentence after sentence bubbled out of him. It was "unpolitical and uneuropean" if Germany did not invest. It is important to contain CO2 emissions and keep Europe together: "Everyone is waiting for Germany to go this way, why do not we go for it?"
Green Party chief Robert Habeck called on the Federal Government to counter the potential recession by investing. To stick to the black zero, was "unpolitical and uneuropean". @The_Gruenen #Rezession #Economy #Kunst #Klimapaket #illner pic.twitter.com/tlpMbxvoMS
- maybrit illner (@maybritillner) September 26, 2019The downturn interpretations of the evening: Which category of economic downturn is actually on? The answers resulted in a collection of shades of gray with a tendency to dark anthracite. Altmaier wavered between "slight dent" and "alarm", but stressed that his government had created jobs. Entrepreneur Karl Haeusgen was "less optimistic". Habeck found that the data rather "not for an economic slowdown, but for a structural change in the global economy". And financial journalist Carolin Roth predicted what was coming, was "not a normal downturn". It will not be as bad as 2009.
The job interview of the evening: Maybrit Illner led it with Mario Gutmann, the works council chairman of Bosch in Bamberg. In the climate debate, too little consideration is given to those who worked in automotive suppliers such as his, he said. Concentrating on the electric car will cost jobs. He wavered between defiance ("The burners will be around for a long time to come") and sarcasm (the young people who take to the streets on Fridays - "I do not know where they all want to work"). And got applause for his key sentence: Germany was "not technology-open".
The directorial performance of the evening: The director was well busy catching shaken heads. Habeck, for example, found that Germany must try to stay "ahead of the wave" and invest: "We are world-economically dependent." 500 million euros would be put into Artificial Intelligence - too little: "The middle Chinese cities alone." Who reacted violently? The Minister of Economy. The debate is "surreal," Altmaier said: "We are not detached, dear Robert Habeck." Of course, companies are responsible for investments, not politics.
The second couple of the evening: The growth critic Nina Treu and the entrepreneur Karl Haeusgen formed it, the vice president of the Association of German mechanical and plant engineering. They did not agree whether they did not understand the economic system or whether they did not understand the drama of climate change. He agreed, however, when she said that if 25 years ago climate change measures had already been taken, "we would not have to be so stressful now". Peace.
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The climate package criticism of the evening: Altmaier defended as already before with "Anne Will" the climate package of the Federal Government. "We have to proceed step by step," he said, so start with a low carbon price. Haeusgen contradicted: The package is not much more than an impulse. Habeck also pleaded for a higher price.
The flowers of the evening: The big questions determined the discussion more. For example: What is wealth? Habeck said we've "gotten used to equating wealth with money." That drives absurd flowers; For example, an accident-prone road is good for growth, because then many cars would have to be renewed. Instead, he suggested a "concept of life satisfaction" that "puts man and nature at the center". There is also the "corridor of a solution".
Model of the evening: What imagined Altmaier under the good life, was also to be experienced. Some would like to go on vacation, he said, and he will not refuse them. Others would be satisfied with baguettes and a good chunk of cheese: "I am very satisfied with that, of course."