He is the most active and experienced official in the business of the federal economy, hardened in the interchangeable baths from ups an...
He is the most active and experienced official in the business of the federal economy, hardened in the interchangeable baths from ups and downs to a certain resistance to the "drug policy", whose search he once used. His word has weight not only in his own country. Not a bad idea, therefore, from Sandra Maischberger, to ask for a solo appearance in such turbulent times as Wolfgang Schäuble, the finance minister and the most powerful man in the Merkel cabinet.
So he now sits, soothingly cleared up with the wisdom of his almost seventy-five years, and the presumptive gaze and habit of Elder Statesman. But in view of the situation of the world, it is not yet clear enough to leave it alone in appeasement. "I do not have it with doom scenarios," he will say, when the European fate questions - Brexit, Le Pen, Wilders, the fortunes of the EU and the currency union - are about to go ahead We do not. " Somehow it will also go on, should be in the EU nothing more as it was.
But there is also the theme of Donald Trump, which "gives him great worries". "You have to be concerned," he repeats, and again: "Worry about it, no question", what happens there in the USA. Now it was above all necessary to clearly represent one's own position. One must try to arrive at reasonable regulations, to thwart the observance of the WTO rules. But in case of need, if that does not succeed, one must "live without the USA."
Excursion into the Boulevard
China's possible new role could be a reason for hope. And in any case, this is "a wake-up call for Europe." And to the fact that with Trump, who supposedly wanted to dry up the bank swamp, now the people of Goldman Sachs have the say and the regulations want to reverse, only one thing falls to him: "quite wrong."
Maischberger, however, would not be Maischberger if she were interested in using her broadcast, which was broadcast at night, solely to elicit political statements from her tougher quality class from her guest. On quite a long distance, however, the Boulevard reporter always goes back and forth with a softness for the all-too-human, so that the conversation is often meandering through the apolitical. In this way one learns a lot about Schäuble's marriage, his love for football, about what he thinks of Lahm's retreat and Hoeneß 'return to FC Bayern and about his youth as a local reporter at the "Schwarzwälder Boten". And, yes, a few times, he has thought of quitting politics. But the question, when this is actually the case, leaves him smiling mildly open.
On the other hand, it is sufficiently clear that, despite all the talk about an alleged social democratization of the CDU and certain "different accents" in the refugee policy, the chancellor continues to think it right. "Mrs. Merkel did well on the whole." There is a word of regret for the departure of Erika Steinbach with her inexplicable will to injury, as he calls it. And when the speech comes briefly to the AfD, it is to be noted to him that he does not particularly like the name of this party in the mouth.
In an almost philosophical way thoughtful
At some point, the burschikose Börsen expert Frank Lehmann is switched, with which the zero-interest policy and the unresolved Greek crisis come up. Now Schäuble is quite the experienced, highly competent treasurer, but above all also the European, to whom one can not come alone with the debt economy. It was not Greece's problem, but the lack of competitiveness. The current monetary policy he discreetly calls "extraordinary", but the Germans also profited from it. And as far as the six-billion budget surplus is concerned, it is certain that the money is not called for the infrastructure at certain federal states and bureaucratic difficulties.
It is particularly interesting when he should answer yes or no to short questions. Does Islam belong to Germany? "He is a part of it." Is Germany an immigration country? "Rather yes." Is Turkey on the way to the dictatorship? "Rather no, this is only temporary."
And there are moments when he becomes thoughtful in an almost philosophical way. Everything had become so uncertain, said Maischberger. But, is this really the truth? We would have lived in the past fifty years with all sincerity, Schäuble muses, reminding us of the most dangerous times of the Cuba crisis and the construction of the wall. Statistically, today more people die by suicide than by wars. And the world of today also offers many new possibilities that previous generations could only have dreamed of. It is possible that confidence is often lacking, because "
