Economic Crisis: Springtime for Hitler?

Mel Brooks’ musical “The Producers” will be performed in Berlin in May, writes Der Spiegel (in English). It’s not that much of a controversy. Just the usual “Should one be allowed to laugh about Hitler?” newspaper articles.

A bit more shocking is the comment by the heads of the Federation of German Trade Unions Michael Sommer, who suggested that Nazis might rise outside the cinemas as well. DW World:

In an interview with Germany’s ARD television, Sommer warned of social unrest comparable to that in the 1930s – when widespread poverty paved the way for the Nazi regime’s rise to power. The projected economic contraction of up to six percent is comparable with data from the years 1930, 1931 and 1932, Sommer said.

The article also mentions the violent workers protests in France…

Germany seems to be doing worse than the EU average, according to the Wall Street Journal:

Europe’s economy faces a deeper recession and a slower recovery than the U.S. or other parts of the world, making it the region that is most hurting prospects for an early end to the global economic slump. The EU’s economy is set to contract 4% this year, even worse than the 2.8% drop projected for the U.S., according to new forecasts published Wednesday by the International Monetary Fund.

When I was in the US over Christmas, I noted a very somber mood regarding the financial crisis. I was surprised that the stock market was a much bigger issue than the war in Iraq. Germans, however, did not quite see and feel the gravity of the financial crisis. They were not that much affected by it yet for various reasons, incl. less dependency on stocks for pensions. Apparently that is changing now. Traditionally Germans used to be more pessimistic than Americans. “German Angst” has been famous around the world. A few weeks ago Roger Cohen from the NY Times had an excellent article in Die Sueddeutsche (in German) about the unusually relaxed Germans.

Now, however, the mood might be changing to what you expect from the German angst. Some politicians and labor leaders talk about the potential of social unrest, while the government remains firm in its conviction that its not time yet for a third stimulus package. And Hans-Werner Sinn, the head of the respected Ifo Institute economic think tank, stressed according to Der Spiegel that the German government’s first two economic stimulus packages had created hundreds of millions of euros in demand around the world: “The blow came from the USA,” he said, “and Germany served as a shock absorber.” It has been a stimulus program for the entire world, he said, noting the strong number of imports coming into a country traditionally known for its exports, writes Der Spiegel.