The economic policy announcements by AfD leader Alice Weidel are meeting with clear rejection from Germany’s leading economists. Marcel Fratzscher, president of the German Institute for Economic Research (DIW), said Weidel’s demand for a withdrawal from the common currency shows a considerable degree of economic policy incompetence. Such a step would mean significant damage for the economy and the population.
Monika Schnitzer, chair of the German Council of Economic Experts, also contradicted the AfD leader’s ideas. She called the notion that a return to the D-Mark would be good for Germany backward-looking and economically wrong. The country’s problems could not be solved by a currency change, the economist said.
Weidel reaffirms euro exit and Schengen withdrawal
Weidel has reaffirmed the AfD’s intention to leave the euro and withdraw from the Schengen Agreement in the event of taking over government. She argued that Germany was significantly better off before the euro was introduced and spoke of a broad impoverishment of the working population. She also claimed that the euro was being weakened, leading to losses of wealth for ordinary people.
Source: www.tagesspiegel.de
