Hans Eichel (left) and Gerhard Schröder |
Germany's corporate bosses expect the government to listen to them. They have wanted a tax change for years, and in December they were finally promised one. But it wasn't what they had asked for: it was more.
How could a Social Democrat/Green coalition give the captains of industry and finance more than the Christian Democrats had ever dared to do while in office? The tax change was logical; it was long overdue. German companies had clearly lost competitiveness with Europe and the rest of the world. After the change in landscape forced by the euro, something was urgently needed to loosen up the corporate structures in Germany, and to end the cosy system of tax credits for German investors who kept investing in their own country.
German citizens thought Hans Eichel their finance minister had given them a moderately nice Christmas present.