TIME EUROPE
August 28, 2000, Vol. 156 No. 9
Super Hans Speaks
TIME talks with German Finance Minister Hans Eichel
German Finance Minister Hans Eichel last week sat down with TIME Berlin bureau chief Charles P. Wallace for a two-hour discussion of the challenges facing his government and the German economy:
TIME: You won a big victory on taxes, a complete reversal of fortune from last year. What's changed since last year?
Eichel: We have prepared this tax reform together with tax experts from business associations as well as experts from the trade unions. Therefore we have tax reform which from the beginning, despite all the criticism regarding aspects of the reform, has found very broad support in our society.
TIME: Some of these tax reforms seem awfully like supply side, something you might expect more from a conservative government. Is there an Eichel philosophy?
Eichel: Our point of departure was that we in Germany are not isolated. We don't stand alone, we have the internal European market, and of course also the global market, and therefore we need to do two things for business: to create an internationally competitive tax system and also competitive tax rates. That's what we have done through this tax reform.
TIME: Is this supply side or Keynesian economics?
Eichel: It's a bit of both because if you put more money in the pocket of the taxpayers, what you leave with business is supply side, while if you give more money to individuals, that's the demand side of it. We've put a special focus on tax cuts, especially on low income earners and families. Our tax reforms with large tax cuts have only been possible after we embarked on fiscal consolidation through expenditure cuts and we foresee further cuts in the future.
TIME: Are you concerned about the level of the euro?
Eichel: No. We have high growth and it continues to pick up, we've got low interest rates, a rather low inflation rate and we've also had a pickup in employment. That means that in the past one-and-a-half years, the economic situation has steadily improved.
Read more of TIME's Q&A with Hans Eichel
This edition's table of contents
TIME Europe home
More stories from TIME Europe and related links
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August 28, 2000
Interview
An extended version of TIME's interview with Hans Eichel
Architect of Reform
Hans Eichel's success in rewriting the tax code will have far-reaching impact on the German economy
COVER STORY
Death Watch
A collision or explosion sank the Kursk, but the real cause of the tragedy was the rapid deterioration of Russia's rusting and underfunded armed forces
Why Did Our Boys Have to Die
At the Kursk's home port, and across Russia, grieving families ask some awkward questions
MIDDLE EAST
Reform Overruled
Iran's Supreme Leader quashes efforts to lift press constraints, angering those working for progress
AFRICA
Law in Search of Order
Northern Nigeria's Christian community is nervous as a strict Islamic judicial system is reintroduced
BUSINESS
Super Hans Speaks
TIME talks with German Finance Minister Hans Eichel
Theme Park Debacle
World-class exhibitions are failing this year on a world-class scale. What do the folks at VW know?
SOCIETY
Face Lift in a Jar?
More effective than makeup but not as powerful as drugs, cosmeceuticals promise to turn back the clock on aging skin
ARTS
The Great Divide
Shocked by the radical changes in her homeland after the 1979 revolution, Iranian-born Shirin Neshat tries to understand and explain Islam through her art
DEPARTMENTS
World Watch
WHAT DO YOU THINK?
E-mail us at mail@timeatlantic.com
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