The poor content of the election campaign, which is gradually coming to an end, must not lead to the erroneous view that it does not matter to the fate of this country who will form the federal government in the future. It doesn't matter. This is especially true for economic policy. The Federal Republic urgently needs a market economy renewal, as described in the "Lambsdorff paper" published almost exactly 29 years ago, with which the then liberal Federal Minister of Economics Otto Graf Lambsdorff heralded the end of the social-liberal coalition. Today, large parts of the political elite fear that an aging, increasingly risk-averse and preservation-oriented population will be confronted with thoughts of inevitable change. That could scare the voters away.

But for almost all the challenges ahead - securing prosperity, financing climate policy, using the possibilities of the digital revolution and ensuring social security in the midst of demographic change - Germany needs an efficient economy that is successful in international competition.

Germany does not need a romanticizing discussion of the benefits of cargo bikes, but rather a debate about the question of what framework conditions can be used to increase the innovative strength of its economy.

Many things are in a bad way

The long-term growth opportunities are, however, under pressure from two megatrends: The aging of the population means that the supply of - often well-trained - workers is dwindling. And the trend from industrial to services makes it difficult to raise urgently needed increases in productivity.

The fact that a dynamic economy needs market forces to be strengthened has not, at least in the past, been a secret restricted to liberal circles. Today SPD economists may dream of beneficial interventions by the state, but the legendary social democratic economics minister Karl Schiller still knew that his advocacy for “maximum productivity” forced a critical look at the possibilities of the state. "But the state has to intervene carefully: Whenever an economic problem arises, the executive and legislative branches should first be encouraged to prove that the market cannot make it here," Schiller once wrote.

Anyone who contradicts that Schiller and Lambsdorff are representatives of a distant past, while modernity needs new thought patterns, overlooks how fatally today's discourse of social democratic economic thinkers is reminiscent of the appearance of the SPD left, hostile to Schiller, half a century ago: the desire for The large distribution of money promotes the mania for feasibility, long-term financial risks are ignored and the dangers of inflation are laughed at as visions of crazy people.

There is nothing modern about it.

Better economic policies are needed

The long-standing neglect of the economic policy debate can be explained by the reluctance of many people to face changes by the indisputable fact that Germany has not been unscathed by the various crises of the recent past, but has gotten better than many other countries. Over the appreciation of the immediate crisis management, it was forgotten how many things are wrong.

The expansion of the transport infrastructure, for example, has failed for many years not because of a lack of money, but more because of administrative blockades and protests by unwilling citizens. In energy policy, the departure from fossil fuels and nuclear energy is being vigorously promoted, but not the urgently needed network expansion to bring energy from regenerative sources from the north to the south. Dead spots, which are sometimes difficult to explain, mock the image of a future-oriented country, as does the need for modernization in the education system and in public administration that has become visible as a result of the pandemic.

In the long run, technological advances have been the most powerful cause of change in people's lives.

The digital revolution and the technical progress that goes with it open up the prospect of a longer and healthier life as well as a combination of economic prosperity and efficient climate policy.

Better economic policies will be needed to take advantage of these opportunities.