PressSplit
Christian Lindner was not the first German finance minister to interpret his job as representing the interests of the banks and the super-rich. That has to change – otherwise we will all pay the price.
Berlin – “I would have violated my oath of office.” This is how Christian Lindner explained his behavior in the dispute over the budget, which led to his dismissal. But one could also say that he violated his oath of office anyway, and much earlier. Ministers promise that they will dedicate their strength “to the well-being of the German people, to increase its benefit and to take damage from it.”
A look at Lindner’s balance sheet shows that this promise was apparently not always the highest priority. The interests of big money usually came first: in Brussels, for example, Lindner was more of a bank lobbyist than finance minister. And in Berlin, Lindner was supposedly always concerned with limiting government debt – but why didn’t he abolish inheritance tax privileges worth billions for the richest? Why didn’t he try to combat systematic tax fraud?
Christian Lindner primarily served big money – like other finance ministers before him
It is particularly clear how much Lindner’s actual focus differs from the public image when dealing with 2.2 billion euros of old funds from a bank rescue fund: his plan was to simply give the money to the banks. Financial turnaround and committed MPs had to force him to use the money to reduce debt.
Former Finance Minister Christian Lindner (FDP). © IMAGO/Noah Wedel
Christian Lindner is not an isolated case. Many of his predecessors, from Peer Steinbrück and Olaf Scholz (SPD) to Wolfgang Schäuble (CDU) interpreted the job in a very similar way. Always according to the motto “What is good for the banks is good for everyone” – even if that is demonstrably false. With Lindner’s successor Jörg Kukies, given his background as a banker, it is at least questionable whether he will have completely different priorities (and whether he even has time for them).
Lindner is not only shaking up the financial markets, but also democracy
Anyone who acts like this as a finance minister will not only shake up the financial markets in the long term – but also democracy. Financial policy can be decisive for elections, as shown by the importance of inflation in the US presidential election. So will the AfD fall below five percent when the next finance minister finally regulates banks better and no longer looks the other way when it comes to tax fraud? No. Winning back the trust of disappointed voters is a mammoth task that requires perseverance. But the next federal government will have to start with this – including and above all its finance minister. Before it’s too late.
The author is on the board of the non-partisan citizens’ movement Finanzwende eV
