Comment | Stellungnahme

Stubbornly Germany first: options for reducing the world's largest current account surplus

Germany continues to be a major exporter of both goods and capital. In 2018, the current account surplus - at about $340 billion - will continue to be the world’s largest. Whilst German policy-makers and society celebrate the surpluses as the result of the competitiveness of German companies, they persistently ignore the other side of the balance of payments. Germany finances consumption and investment - abroad. The repeated explanations of the German government - arguing that the surpluses reflect private decisions that cannot be influenced by government policy - are not convincing. The German government has many options to reduce or raise taxes and can shape incentives to save or invest, but prefers to ignore these opportunities. Whilst many German observers eagerly point to the self-interested economic policies of the United States, Germany itself continues to place its own interests above the legitimate concerns of both its European and Atlantic partners. A continuation of the "Germany First" economic policies of the past two decades would constitute both a burden for European integration and the global trading system. (Autorenreferat)

Stubbornly Germany first: options for reducing the world's largest current account surplus

Urheber*in: Dieter, Heribert

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ISSN
1861-1761
Extent
Seite(n): 8
Language
Englisch
Notes
Status: Veröffentlichungsversion; begutachtet

Bibliographic citation
SWP Comment (48/2018)

Subject
Wirtschaft
Internationale Beziehungen
Wirtschaftspolitik
internationale Beziehungen, Entwicklungspolitik
Leistungsbilanz
Außenhandel
Außenhandelspolitik
Interessenkonflikt
wirtschaftliche Faktoren
Wettbewerbsfähigkeit
Auslandsinvestition
Wirtschaftspolitik
europäische Integration
Welthandel
Bundesrepublik Deutschland
USA

Event
Geistige Schöpfung
(who)
Dieter, Heribert
Event
Veröffentlichung
(who)
Stiftung Wissenschaft und Politik -SWP- Deutsches Institut für Internationale Politik und Sicherheit
(where)
Deutschland, Berlin
(when)
2018

URN
urn:nbn:de:0168-ssoar-60968-7
Rights
GESIS - Leibniz-Institut für Sozialwissenschaften. Bibliothek Köln
Last update
21.06.2024, 4:27 PM CEST

Data provider

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Object type

  • Stellungnahme

Associated

  • Dieter, Heribert
  • Stiftung Wissenschaft und Politik -SWP- Deutsches Institut für Internationale Politik und Sicherheit

Time of origin

  • 2018

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