Transatlantic Economic Forum:
“Merkel’s Moment of Truth – Restarting the German Economic Locomotive”

On October 27, 2006 the Atlantic Council hosted a Transatlantic Economic Forum on “Merkel’s Moment of Truth – Restarting the German Economic Locomotive.”  The forum was structured into three panels. German Ambassador Dr. Klaus Scharioth delivered the keynote address in which he described German economic reform efforts as well as Germany’s agenda for its upcoming twin-presidency of the EU and the G8. Throughout the day, panelists went beyond describing Germany’s current challenges and offered concrete policy recommendations on what should be done to turn Germany once again into an economic locomotive for Europe.

The forum was held as a follow up to an Atlantic Council delegation visit to Germany this summer, during which the delegation met with senior economic experts, journalists, and policymakers to assess the current reform challenges Germany is facing. The delegation left Germany with somewhat mixed feelings about the ability of the Merkel-led government to implement far-reaching economic reforms as it became very clear that Germans value consensus-based approaches which prevent the kind of Thatcher-style reforms Great Britain saw during the 1980s.

Yet, both the delegation visit as well as the economic forum pointed to several positive reform developments which should not be ignored. Consumer confidence is slowly increasing, unemployment has begun to drop, and economic growth for 2006 has exceeded most forecasts. Still, serious challenges remain and as was pointed out by several panelists, 2006 will likely be a positive outlier while the VAT-tax increase, rising social security and health care costs will slow German economic growth in 2007.

For details on the October 27 Transatlantic Economic Forum, we invite you to listen to the audio recordings, or to read the transcript of the entire event. Should you have any questions regarding the Council’s project on “German-American Dialogue on Transatlantic Economic Policy and Global Leadership,” you may contact Jan Neutze, Assistant Director, Program on Transatlantic Relations at 202-778-4990 or at jneutze@acus.org.

The forum was supported by generous contributions from the ERP Transatlantic Program of the German Federal Ministry of Economics and Technology, the German Marshall Fund of the United States, and the German American Business Council

Downloads:

Transatlantic Economic Forum - Agenda

Adam Posen PowerPoint Presentation – “What Reforms Germany Needs”

Wall Street Journal op-ed (by Richard Burt & Fran Burwell)

Audio-Files:

Welcome Remarks by Frederick Kempe
Download Transcript          Listen to the Audio-File

Panel 1: ”What needs to be done to reform the German economy?” Download Transcript   

• Adam Posen   (Listen to the Audio-File)
• Gustav Horn   (Listen to the Audio-File)
• Bernhard Welschke and Discussion Among Panelists (Listen to the Audio-File)
• Q&A with the Audience (Listen to the Audio-File)
   

Panel 2: “Prospects for Greater Economic Reforms – How to Create Political Consensus?” Download Transcript

• Rüdiger Lentz & Michael Backfisch (Listen to the Audio-File)
• Dirk Schattschneider, Discussion, and Q&A (Listen to the Audio-File)

Keynote Address – H.E. Dr. Klaus Scharioth, Ambassador of the Federal Republic of Germany to the United States of America
Download Transcript         Listen to the Audio-File

Panel 3: “Germany in the European and Global Economies” 
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• Wolfgang Jakubek & Günter Burghardt (Listen to the Audio-File)
• Bruce Stokes, discussion, and Q&A (Listen to the Audio-File)