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Article: Germany's economic non-miracle: how Finance Minister Hans Eichel's policies have hurt the Schroeder government.
- Article from:
- The International Economy
- Article date:
- September 22, 2002
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2002 International Economy Publications, Inc. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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When the Kohl government fell after 16 years in 1998 there was hope that the red-green coalition government under Chancellor Schroeder would overcome the gridlock in economic reforms concerning taxes, the social security system, labor market institutions, and prudential supervision. Germany's economic growth had fallen to 1.5 percent in the period 1993-98. Once the reunification boom of 1990-92 was over, fuelled largely by generous tax benefits for investors in eastern Germany, a reunited Germany faced serious problems, the least of which was a shocking 4.5 million unemployed.
The politico-economic heritage of the conservative government was very difficult ...