Thanks for the article, interesting food for thought, and a breath of fresh
air into the list after the last few weeks.

Reminds me somewhat of the "Green Scissors" proposals of recent years, U.S.
budget cuts (mostly of corporate subsidies and more destructive public
works projects, justified on both economic and environmental grounds)
attempting to join fiscal-conservative-republican types with
environmentalists.  Always wondered why the Republicans didn't have more of
an environmental wing, both on economic and on spiritual grounds, not to
mention merely being truly "conservative".

Jerry



>Martin Hufner is chief economist of Bayerische Vereinsbank, second largest
>bank in Ger. The Greens have long been branded 'leftists'; and I have
>attempted to argue strongly against knee-jerk positions blindly following
>that label for reasons including some expressed below. There is a critical
>need to narrow the gap between rich/poor which isn't as wide in Germany as
>it is in most other countries; but redistribution is not the magic bullet
>for a sustainable future in my opinion.
>
>Steve
>
>          February 1, 1999, Monday
>          Editorial Desk (NY TIMES)
>
>          The Greens vs. Germany's Welfare State
>
>          By Martin Hufner
>
>          Much to their surprise and disbelief, some German
>          business leaders have found common ground with their
>          erstwhile worst enemy: the Green Party, which is
>          emerging as the voice of economic reason in the new
>          center-left Government in a number of areas.
>
>          This stands in stark contrast to the mood right after
>          the election, when the victorious Social Democrats
>          brought their electoral allies, the Greens, into their
>          Government coalition. This raised grave concerns that
>          once the Greens grabbed a little power, they would push
>          an anti-capitalist agenda.
>
>          In fact, the Greens and their pragmatic leader, Foreign
>          Minister Joschka Fischer, are quite fiscally
>          conservative, more so in many ways than the Social
>          Democrats and their Finance Minister, Oskar Lafontaine.
>          (A Green politician has characterized Mr. Lafontaine as
>          someone ''who is stuck in a totally outdated concept of
>          demand-side economics.'') The Greens, for example,
>          oppose various large subsidies for industries like coal
>          mining -- a reform crucial to improving the
>          competitiveness of the German economy.
>
>          Reform of Germany's famously generous pension system is
>          another instance of the Greens' fiscal sense. While the
>          Social Democrats are determined to undo the very
>          limited scaling back in the pension system by the
>          previous Government, the Greens advocate a firm focus
>          on generational equity. They do not believe it is wise
>          to add to the financial burden of today's and
>          tomorrow's work force.
>
>          For the Greens, ''sustainability'' is more than an
>          environmental concept, and relates to financial,
>          economic and social policy as well. They believe that
>          if the level of consumption is not sustainable -- be it
>          in the form of deficit spending, the overconsumption of
>          state services or environmental degradation -- then
>          policies must change.
>
>          The Greens are even sympathetic to the idea that
>          corporate taxes must be revamped to make German
>          business more competitive. Their calculation is simple:
>          financially weak companies cannot make the necessary
>          investments in technologies to protect the environment.
>          The Greens' persistence forced German business to deal
>          with pollution and other problems before other
>          countries did.
>
>          In fact, environmentally sensitive technologies like
>          oil reclamation are one of the few areas where German
>          business can claim a dominance comparable to its strong
>          overall position as little as 15 years ago. Last year,
>          Germany's 18.7 percent share of the world market for
>          environmental technology was larger than that of any
>          other country, including the United States.
>
>          In some cases, it is business that has given due
>          consideration to the Greens' way of thinking, rather
>          than vice versa. Take a party proposal to triple
>          Germany's already high gasoline taxes. Many corporate
>          and financial leaders were aghast. But then again, one
>          cannot escape noticing that, at the very time the idea
>          was floated, Volkswagen introduced its new ''Lupo'' car
>          that is designed to run on 78 miles per gallon. From a
>          purely economic point of view, by the time that kind of
>          leap forward in efficiency takes a broader hold in the
>          marketplace, even a tripling of gasoline prices would
>          not impose an additional burden on the average driver.
>
>          As advanced industrialized societies, we need to
>          realize that the auto industry can no longer primarily
>          rely on the ''bigger and more powerful'' mottos of
>          yesteryear. ''More intelligent'' will do, as we look
>          forward to vastly improved fuel economy and the wider
>          use of information technology tools, like navigation
>          systems. The Greens' policy once again presents a
>          useful measuring rod for car makers' advances.
>
>          It is true that the Greens' single-mindedness in
>          pursuing their goals has proved highly frustrating to
>          business leaders at times. In retrospect, however,
>          these tough battles yielded a considerable amount of
>          mutual respect.
>
>          Even the Greens' more outlandish ideas sometimes make
>          an odd sort of sense. For example, a while ago a party
>          leader, worried about the waste of jet fuel, advocated
>          that Germans be allowed to fly to their vacation
>          destinations only once every five years. While an
>          example of severe overregulation, the idea makes a
>          point. From the standpoint of global competitiveness,
>          Germans certainly do spend too much time on vacation.
>
>          As long as Joschka Fischer manages to steer his party
>          in the right direction, the Greens' innate
>          anti-establishment thinking -- and their willingness to
>          take on institutions deemed untouchable by others --
>          provides a refreshing element in German politics.
>
>          Contrary to all expectations, the Greens have had such
>          a good start in the new Government that it has caused
>          Germany's astute Chancellor, Gerhard Schroder, to
>          change his own political strategy. Rather than letting
>          them increasingly occupy the center ground in German
>          politics, he is cooperating with them to put an
>          effective check on the Social Democrats' left wing,
>          which has so far resisted reforms. In working more
>          closely with the Greens, Mr. Schroder may be readying
>          Germany for the changes it needs.
>
>          -------------------------------------------------------





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