Lars Feld: Anyone who taxes machines drives away investors

Crisis of trust, eternal coalition dispute, alternately CDU or SPD in crisis - the headlines these days do not bode well for the continued existence of the federal government coalition. Prominent projects such as pension reform, higher income tax burdens or the adoption of the federal budget repeatedly cause disputes between the coalition members or the factions that support them. In many ways, however, the coalition continues to work on its policy agenda and is actually making progress.

At the start of the week, Chancellor Friedrich Merz is inviting people to an investment summit. Around 200 business leaders have been announced who are interested in investing in Germany. How much additional investment will be made in Germany is anyone's guess.

Previous summits of this type have led to announcements of investments, most of which had already been planned. The additionality was doubtful. This time it is also expected that foreign investors will primarily be looking for investments to diversify their portfolio - from the USA to Europe. Nevertheless, a number of investors seem to be interested in the opportunities for German industry to be at the forefront of the next wave of artificial intelligence.