Documentation of the trialogue "What fiscal policy in the crisis?"

DATE29.11.2017
AUTHORAudrey Podann, Marietta Müller

The Trialogue on 3 July 2017 was the second event in the series "German Sonderweg? - An assessment of economic policy and economics in Germany". The positive growth in Germany compared to the rest of Europe and the favourable development on the labour market seem to confirm those voices that see no problem or even a prerequisite for good economic development in a restrictive fiscal policy. At the same time, many national and international players diagnose Germany with an investment backlog despite a low interest rate environment, which is also leading to a shrinking public capital stock. Foreign economists and international institutions have been questioning the "black zero" policy and the German debt brake for a long time, and recently there has also been a debate at home about whether this policy makes sense.

The aim of the trialogue was to uncover the underlying explanatory patterns of this policy and to work out possible contradictions between the economic paradigms.

The documentation presents the different perspectives that were mentioned and discussed by the participants in the trialogue.