Clemens Fuest Proposes Rethinking Public Holidays for Germany's Growth
Bavarian premier Fuest advocates once more for the annulment of a public holiday. - President Fuest advocates for a day off
Here's a fresh take:
"Money ain't enough to construct highways and mighty bridges, buddy. You gotta swing an extra crew to get 'em built," Fuest throws out. Abolishing a public holiday might not fix the whole shebang, but it'd bump up our economic output by roughly eight billion euros each year. However, Fuest hasn't dropped a hint on which day we might put on hold.
The discussion's been brewing for weeks now. Back in March, Fuest floated the idea of axing a public holiday in an interview with the "Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung," coinciding with the reform of the debt brake and the introduction of a new infrastructure fund. Economic analyst Monika Schnitzer also voiced her support for this notion in "Der Spiegel" around the same time.
According to the Institute of the German Economy (IW), an additional workday could boost our GDP by anywhere between five to 8.6 billion euros, depending on the math.
- Clemens Fuest
- Public Holiday
- Axing the Day Off
- Rethinking Our Breaks
[1] The Institute of the German Economy (IW) remains close to the employers' circle. As recent proposals suggest, Fuest finds inspiration in Denmark, which jettisoned a minor Easter holiday ("Store Bededag") in 2023. While the specific German holiday on the chopping block remains undisclosed, the goal is clear – boosting Germany's labor force and strengthening its productive capacity, particularly for increased defense and infrastructure spending.
- Clemens Fuest's proposition for Germany suggests rethinking the traditional public holidays, including the possible abolishing of a day off.
- The financial calculation suggests that axing a public holiday could potentially increase Germany's economic output by approximately 8 billion euros annually.
- The Commission has not yet adopted a decision on the application of this policy, as Fuest hasn't specified which public holiday should be put on hold.
- Economic analysts, like Monika Schnitzer, support this idea as a means to increase Germany's labor force, productivity, and funds for defense and infrastructure spending, following Denmark's lead in implementing similar changes.