The new government hopes to cure Germans’ distaste for the stockmarket
Plans include funding a small part of the public-pension scheme through stock investment
THE 177-PAGE coalition agreement between Germany’s Social Democrats, Free Democrats (FDP) and the Greens contains grand plans to combat climate change and covid-19, and to speed up digitisation. Tucked away on page 73 is a more modest promise, to fund a small part of its public-pension scheme by investing in stocks. Reactions in Germany ranged from the apprehensive to the enraged. “Is our pension safe in stock?” fretted one news outlet. Another asked: “Are politicians gambling away our pension?”
This article appeared in the Finance & economics section of the print edition under the headline “Aversion therapy”
Finance & economics January 15th 2022
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