HOLD OUT WITH ALL YOUR STRENGTH
HOLD OUT WITH ALL YOUR STRENGTH
A report from the engine room of the economic rescue organisation
Robert Misik, Author and journalist
in dialogue with
Olaf Scholz, Vice-Chancellor and Finance Minister of the Federal Republic of Germany
He is probably the most important economic politician on the continent: Olaf Scholz, German Finance Minister and Vice Chancellor. Many threads come together in his office: with a gigantic support programme ("this is our bazooka"), the German government is trying to keep companies afloat during the shutdown phase and the anti-epidemic policy, while at the same time economic stimulus programmes for the time afterwards are already being drawn up. And without any blueprint: "There is no script for this crisis," says Olaf Scholz. At the same time, Chancellor Angela Merkel and the Finance Minister are working with their European partners on a new start in the European Union, on a recovery plan that is to become a new "milestone" ("Die Zeit") for European cooperation.
Olaf Scholz is a guest at the Vienna Kreisky Forum, speaking to Robert Misik from the Berlin Ministry of Finance, and explains what needs to be done to stabilise companies and employment and avoid a downward spiral - and what goals we should already be setting ourselves for a post-corona era.