As of: January 29, 2024, 7:03 p.m
By: Lisa Mayerhofer
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AfD leader Alice Weidel recently brought Germany's exit from the EU into play.
The renowned economist Michael Hüther is not the only one warning about the consequences.
Berlin - First she was against it, now she is for it: After the AfD party leader Alice Weidel clearly spoke out against a so-called "Dexit", i.e. Germany's exit from the EU, last summer, she now announces it in an interview the
Financial Times
the opposite.
Accordingly, she believes that a referendum on Germany's exit from the European Union is right if the EU does not change according to her party's ideas.
Implementing the AfD's economic policy plans would cost Germany dearly, several economists are now warning.
AfD plans for “Dexit”: billions in losses and millions fewer jobs
Leaving the European Union, for example, would cause the export-oriented German economy to grow by an estimated six percent less within a few years, said Michael Hüther, director of the employer-oriented Institute of the German Economy in Cologne (IW), to the
Süddeutsche Zeitung
.
He referred to experiences with the British exit from the EU (“Brexit”).
In ten to 15 years the minus would even be ten percent.
“We are talking about a loss of 400 to 500 billion euros,” said Hüther.
“That would be thousands of euros in lost wealth per capita.”
AfD parliamentary group in the Bundestag: Tino Chrupalla and Alice Weidel look at a smartphone together.
(Archive image) © Political-Moments/Imago
No other nation has gained as much in exports through the EU internal market as Germany.
If the Federal Republic were to leave the EU, it would have to cope with significantly worse trading conditions than before.
The monetary union also eliminated the previous exchange rate risk, which was very burdensome.
“If we assume a growth loss of five percent in Germany, that would be 2.2 million fewer jobs,” said Hüther.
Clemens Fuest on AfD: “It destroys German competitive advantages”
The President of the German Institute for Economic Research (DIW), Marcel Fratzscher, told the newspaper that the AfD's planned curtailment of tenant protection would lead to higher rents.
The party's rejection of higher minimum wages would in turn result in lower income in real terms.
This means that more people would be dependent on government support.
“The AfD plans would ultimately lead to more social spending,” said Fratzscher.
Several German economists also criticized
the party's economic policy goals in
Spiegel at the weekend.
“The central problem is that the AfD relies on isolation and self-sufficiency, which destroys German competitive advantages,” said Clemens Fuest, head of the Munich Ifo Institute.
This is “in diametric contradiction to Germany’s deep integration into the global economy.”
The Leibniz Center for European Economic Research pointed out that, according to its calculations, higher earners and not lower-income people would benefit if the party's demands for the last federal election were implemented.
With material from Reuters and dpa