For the third time in the USA: Federal Minister of Economics Robert Habeck (Greens)
Image: dpa
Massive debt for the climate: The economics minister wants an investment program as large as the USA. But it is not clear whether this calculation will work. And it’s not just because of the argument at the traffic lights.
Es is a counterpoint to the principle of “America first”. When Federal Economics Minister Robert Habeck (Greens) had the latest political twists in the election campaign explained to him at the German embassy in Washington on Wednesday evening American time, there was mineral water from Gerolsteiner and Cola from the German discounter Lidl. Even if the federal government often criticizes the nationalistic tendencies in American economic policy, a little “Germany first” is still allowed.
The atmosphere in the “Berlin Bar” is relaxed. Habeck and the German ambassador Andreas Michaelis are on first name terms. The former spokesman for the Foreign Minister Joschka Fischer is close to the Greens. But it doesn’t take long until the three letters that politicians and companies have been talking regarding for almost two years are mentioned: IRA, the abbreviation for Inflation Reduction Act. With this, Joe Biden’s government wants to make the American economy climate-friendly. The $370 billion over a ten-year period that Biden once announced is no longer relevant; the investment bank Goldman Sachs now estimates the volume at $1.2 trillion. For Robert Habeck, the IRA is both a blessing and a curse. Curse because German companies invest in America instead of Germany, citing better funding. Blessing because Habeck can argue exactly that in the budget debate that is now starting once more.
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