Not the citizen, “the state has to tighten its belt,” says Thorsten Alsleben

This statement angered many citizens this week: Given the federal government's tense budget situation, the Germans will probably have to tighten their belts next year, said Union parliamentary group leader Thorsten Frei (CDU) in response to a question from the "Bild" newspaper. Savings are of course not particularly popular, the CDU politician continued. An assessment that Thorsten Alsleben also shares. In the WELT interview with TV presenter Marcus Tychsen, the managing director of the “Initiative New Social Market Economy” (INSM) is asked whether such a statement is, quote, “still communicable” in times of record tax revenues.

A template that the business lobbyist cannot miss: "So I actually expect a representative of the Social Market Economy Party, (the party of) Ludwig Erhard, to say first of all that the state has to tighten its belt. We have a sprawling state, the state quota is increasing, the social quota is increasing and the burdens are increasing on the citizens," he explains. The basic approach of politics must always be “we relieve the burden on the citizens”.

Reforms and especially fundamental structural reforms are of course necessary, as is the fact that “one or the other service” of the state sometimes has to be canceled. “But the bottom line is that people have to have more money in their wallets,” he concludes.

When asked what the federal government was doing wrong, at a time when reforms such as basic security did not lead to falling costs but, on the contrary, actually increased them, Alsleben then points to the difficult overall economic situation in which “it is harder to get people into work”.

And obviously the new sanctions on citizens' money are probably not yet taking effect. Nevertheless, Alsleben emphasizes once again, the state also has to be modest. "We have superfluous authorities and ministries. You can save money there. Civil service positions are being expanded, even though the government promised that it wanted to reduce them. None of this is happening and instead taxes are being increased," he criticizes. As an example, the moderator and talk guest then discuss the planned new tax projects on sugar, tobacco and plastic.

Alsleben's conclusion: "You can find some justification for each individual tax. Only when taken together is the signal fatal, because people realize again that I have to pay more in my everyday life, where the inflation rate is high anyway and the government is making no effort to save elsewhere." A “reversal” is finally needed here, continued the former ZDF business journalist. According to Alsleben, he hopes that an agreement will be reached during the budget discussions next week.

But he is not particularly hopeful: "(...) it is not yet clear whether the Union and the SPD will agree on important points. If not, the coalition is over. And if so, it may be more expensive." He therefore hopes that the Union will prevail against some of the demands from Finance Minister Lars Klingbeil (SPD).

The moderator and economic expert cannot miss a possible swipe at the ministry: When asked about an embarrassing mistake in the Federal Ministry of Finance, as a result of which a change in the tobacco tax did not come into force immediately as planned on January 1, 2027, but rather immediately, Alsleben spoke of a "fatal" mistake in the Ministry of Finance and human error: "And this shows again how backwards a government like this works. A simple AI query would have revealed that within ten seconds," he concluded.