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Top economist Sinn: "We are in the hands of Mr. Putin and that makes the whole thing unpredictable"

2022-08-06T03:00:40.158Z


Top economist Sinn: "We are in the hands of Mr. Putin and that makes the whole thing unpredictable" Created: 2022-08-06 04:46 By: Lisa Mayerhofer The dispute over the use of nuclear power in Germany in view of the gas crisis rages on. Top economist Hans-Werner Sinn takes a clear position and warns: "The situation is serious." Munich – Inflation and the energy crisis dominate the debates in Ger


Top economist Sinn: "We are in the hands of Mr. Putin and that makes the whole thing unpredictable"

Created: 2022-08-06 04:46

By: Lisa Mayerhofer

The dispute over the use of nuclear power in Germany in view of the gas crisis rages on.

Top economist Hans-Werner Sinn takes a clear position and warns: "The situation is serious."

Munich – Inflation and the energy crisis dominate the debates in Germany.

The corona pandemic and the consequences of the Ukraine war have, among other things, caused inflation in Europe to rise sharply in recent months.

There is also the danger that Putin could finally turn off the gas tap in Germany and thus slide into a serious energy crisis.

Gas, which is urgently needed for heating, would become scarce.

The raw material also contributes around ten percent to electricity production in Germany.

Proponents of extending nuclear power plant lifetimes say that if nuclear power were to be used longer, more gas could be used for heating.

This group also includes the top economist and former head of the Munich ifo Institute, Hans-Werner Sinn.

Top economist Sinn: "Habeck is a reasonable man"

Federal Minister of Economics Robert Habeck (Greens) ordered a new stress test for the power supply under these aspects.

According to the ministry, the results should be available in the next few weeks.

The Greens no longer rule out continued operation of the remaining nuclear power plants “under certain conditions”.

There are currently three nuclear power plants still connected to the grid in Germany: Emsland in Lower Saxony, Isar 2 in Bavaria and Neckarwestheim 2 in Baden-Württemberg.

According to the law, however, they should be switched off at the end of 2022.

In an interview with

Focus Online

, Sinn was relieved to see the Minister of Economics change his mind: "Lucky, Habeck is a reasonable man." It is absurd not to use nuclear power if there is a risk "that we will not be able to cope if Putin turn off the gas".

The six nuclear power plants that were still in operation in 2021 would produce 20 percent more electricity than the photovoltaic systems.

The economist warns the news portal about the volatility of electricity from renewable energies, as these are dependent on weather conditions.

According to Focus Online

, Sinn emphasizes

: "Nuclear power is controllable power that can be offered when it is needed."

Hans-Werner Sinn is a professor emeritus at the Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität and was head of the ifo Institute from 1999 to 2016.

© Peter Kneffel/dpa

Sinn doesn't see inflation ending anytime soon

Economist Sinn also warns with a view to the German economy: "The situation is serious, we are in the hands of Mr. Putin and that makes the whole thing unpredictable.

We are in a basic situation that is fundamentally different from previous years.

Everything is different now: we have a pandemic, we have supply-side restrictions and if gas throttling is added to that, the supply-side restrictions will become even more severe,” Sinn told

Focus Online

.

In his view, consumers will have to deal with inflation for a long time to come.

(lma/dpa)

Source: merkur

All news articles on 2022-08-06

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