Curious suggestion: top economist calls for even higher gas surcharge
Created: 08/12/2022, 11:49 am
By: Patricia Huber
From autumn, consumers will be faced with a gas levy of up to five cents per kilowatt hour.
The economist Jens Südekum is now calling for this to be increased even further.
Berlin – German consumers have to be prepared for an expensive autumn.
Because from then on, the state gas levy will take effect, which will increase the price of gas by up to five cents.
This worries the top economist Jens Südekum.
He is a professor of international economics at the Heinrich Heine University in Düsseldorf and a member of the Scientific Advisory Board of the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy.
Gas levy "threatening the existence of many people"
"For many people, the additional costs can threaten their existence," Südekum told
Der Spiegel
.
For families in particular, the gas surcharge can quickly mean four-digit extra costs.
The gas surcharge is a big problem, especially in times when many people have to turn over every cent twice anyway due to inflation.
Südekum is therefore calling for state relief for people with low and middle incomes.
But who should pay for that?
Another relief package would cost the Treasury dearly.
Südekum therefore suggests: “In the face of rising inflation, we need a top-down redistribution, not the other way around.
The high gas prices would have to be borne by the better off.”
Economist Südekum calls for an even higher gas surcharge
But how can this plan be implemented in a targeted manner?
The economist has a suggestion for this that at first glance seems a bit strange.
"I am in favor of increasing the gas surcharge much further," he says in an
interview with
Der Spiegel .
He is in favor of increasing the levy to 15 cents.
This would give the state financial leeway to specifically support small incomes.
"Ultimately, that would be a tax on the gas consumption of rich households," he finally explains.
This could also encourage people to save.
Because the big gas shock for many people is not likely to come until next year, when the service charge bill flutters into the house.
"A higher gas surcharge would immediately encourage savings," explains the economist.
(ph)
