Shortly before the federal elections, the grand coalition is giving everything again: Companies now receive up to 10 million euros a month if they suffer from a drop in sales due to the corona. In addition, the state now pays up to 60 percent of the personnel costs when companies bring employees back from short-time work or hire new ones. For self-employed people, the monthly support has been increased from 1250 to 1500 euros. Don't mess, but bulge: The promise made by Federal Minister of Economics Peter Altmaier (CDU) at the end of October shortly before the second lockdown is now being kept at the latest. The aid is still limited to the end of September, but it will probably be extended again soon. Both Altmaier and Finance Minister Olaf Scholz (SPD) have indicated this.Nobody in Berlin wants to risk new displeasure from medium-sized companies.

Julia Löhr

Business correspondent in Berlin.

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It is undisputed among economists that politics has to help companies if they hinder them in their business operations.

However, also that this should remain a temporary phenomenon.

But there can hardly be any question of that.

After almost a year and a half in the state of emergency corona, doubts are growing as to whether there can be a return to the pre-crisis state at all.

Many consumers who bought clothes, furniture and technology online instead of from downtown retailers during the long lockdown will continue to do so in the future.

Part of business travel is being permanently replaced by video conferences, at the expense of airlines, city hotels and event agencies.

The first economists are therefore warning that it cannot go on like this.

"There is a risk that we will keep companies alive that are actually no longer viable due to structural change," says Timo Wollmershäuser, Head of Economic Research at the Ifo Institute in Munich.

Economically, this is not a good development.

"We prevent the resources - capital as well as employees - from being used in areas with a promising future."

"It has nothing to do with economic rationality"

Zombies are companies that, for various reasons, still hold their own in the market, even though their income over a longer period of time is lower than the interest costs they have to pay for their loans. Last year, the credit agency Creditreform estimated that around every sixth of the 3.5 million companies in Germany could become a zombie, more than 550,000. Even if companies have been obliged to file for bankruptcy again since the beginning of May if they are insolvent or over-indebted, the credit agency sees no reason to give the all-clear, on the contrary: “The massive government aid can increase the number of companies at risk by 50,000 to 100,000 Increase companies ”, says Patrik-Ludwig Hantzsch, Head of Economic Research at Creditreform.“Politicians are flooding the market with liquidity. It no longer has anything to do with economic rationality. "

Since the beginning of the Corona crisis, according to the figures of the Federal Ministry of Economics, more than 114 billion euros have flowed in Corona aid. Of this, around 48 billion euros were grants that do not have to be repaid. In contrast to the financial crisis ten years ago, the number of bankruptcies last year did not increase, it actually decreased. The researchers at the Ifo Institute have calculated that government aid has reduced the risk of bankruptcy by around a quarter. “Instead of almost 16,000 bankruptcies last year, it should actually have been around 20,500,” says Wollmershäuser, an economist. Neither he nor other economists expect a significant increase in bankruptcies this year. Thanks to bridging, restart and other help, many companies are likely to stay alive.