Working group on alternative economic policy

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In the Alternative Economic Policy working group (also known as the Memorandum or Memo Group for short ), economists and trade unionists work “on developing economic policy proposals and perspectives that focus on securing meaningful jobs, improving living standards and expanding the social security system for the Orient workers and effective environmental protection in the Federal Republic ” .

Positions and theories are criticized that “ subordinate employment , income , social benefits and environmental protection to the profits of the private sector” . The great majority of economists support an economic policy that is primarily aimed at private profit promotion and gives the impression that there is no alternative for scientific reasons. The working group counteracts this with its analyzes and suggestions.

development

The working group presented a “Memorandum for an effective and social economic policy” for the first time in November 1975 , shortly after the first budget structure law was passed by the Federal Cabinet, in which the working group sees the initiation of social cuts in the Federal Republic. Since 1977 , a further memorandum on alternative economic policy has been published in the week before May 1 each year . In addition, numerous statements on current economic, financial and social policy issues have been prepared. The memorandum was conceived as a "counter-opinion" to the annual report of the Council of Economic Experts on the assessment of macroeconomic development (the "five wise men") in order to provide a platform for an alternative doctrine to the prevailing economics. In 1995, on the initiative of Jörg Huffschmid, the European memorandum group European Economists for an Alternative Economic Policy in Europe was established, which also submits an annual memorandum in English. It contains alternative economic analyzes and recommendations for the economic policy of the European Union and its member states.

A so-called summer school has been offered for 29 years (as of 2018); Speakers in 2016 were Heinz-Josef Bontrup , Cornelia Heintze, Rudolf Hickel , Tobias Kaphegyi, Wilfried Kurtzke, Gunter Quaißer, Mechthild Schrooten and Axel Troost . In 2012 the Alternative Economic Policy working group joined the Umfairteile alliance . In 2011, the Alternative Economic Policy Working Group, the EuroMemo Group, the scientific advisory board of Attac Germany and the Rosa Luxemburg Foundation announced a “Jörg Huffschmid Prize” in memory of Jörg Huffschmid, which is awarded every two years for theses or dissertations in Political economy is awarded at universities in Germany, Austria and Switzerland.

The working group was founded by the professors of the University of Bremen Jörg Huffschmid , Rudolf Hickel and Herbert Schui ; The memorandum is characterized by the fact that there is no editor - the text is the result of discursive group work, where it is ultimately no longer possible to determine which author has what part in it. The memorandum group is financed exclusively through donations and the income from the respective publications. Anyone who is interested in them and expresses this by willingness to cooperate can take part in the conferences and the work. A short version will be sent to a group of supporters before publication with the request for approval; their signatures are published in the memorandum.

The working group had worked for 41 years without a formal structure. It was only on January 1, 2017 that she founded a non-profit, registered association. The working group therefore officially has members from among scientifically active employees and an elected board. The board was composed as follows: Rudolf Hickel (chairman), Andrea Adrian (second deputy), Axel Troost (first deputy), Heinz-J. Bontrup, Mechthild Schrooten. Anyone who is interested in them and expresses this by willingness to cooperate can continue to participate in the conferences and the work.

On April 17, 2020, the working group announced the invitation via press release that it would hold the annual press conference on April 24, 2020 to present the book publication Memorandum 2020, which will be held for the first time via a publicly accessible video conference. The MEMORANDUM 2020 will be presented: Against market and political failure - actively in a social and ecological future and the SPECIAL MEMORANDUM on the Corona crisis Solidarity Pact for crisis management .

Broad proposals

  • The working group sees the shaping of economic and social policy as the main reason for a downward spiral of weak demand and mass unemployment .
  • The working group proposes a policy to increase demand . A public investment program, among other things for better infrastructure (especially educational infrastructure) and job creation in the public service, are to stimulate economic growth .
  • The financing is to come largely through an increase in corporation tax , inheritance tax and income tax (or the reduction through benefits, including speculative profits , interest income , dividend income ), as well as through the reintroduction of wealth tax and stock exchange tax .
  • The Working Group on Alternative Economic Policy advocates an increase in wages and a reduction in working hours in line with companies' profits and production progress, since the working group believes that wages that are too low reduce domestic demand .
  • The social insurance should be placed on a broader basis, compulsory members should also be self-employed , rich and civil servants . The financing should be income-related
  • The Working Group on Alternative Economic Policy speaks out against increases in value added tax , even if this reduces non-wage labor costs, since an increase in value added tax would reduce overall demand due to the additional burden on employees.
  • The working group proposes the introduction of minimum standards (e.g. minimum wages ).
  • She proposes the introduction of a foreign exchange transaction tax ( Tobin tax ), the proceeds of which are to be used as financial aid for the poorest countries in the world.

Well-known members and employees

Prices

Publications

memorandum

Book editions with respective PDF abstracts

Memorandum East Germany

From 1991 to 2009 the working group published an annual memorandum on the economic situation in East Germany.

Special memoranda

  • 2020: Corona crisis: Solidarity pact for crisis management | SpecialMemo 2020 | PDF
  • 2019: Good living for everyone | PDF
  • 2011: Euroland in Crisis: A Seven Point Program for Economic and Monetary Union | PDF
  • 2010: Politics has learned nothing - the redistribution from bottom to top continues | PDF
  • 2008: crisis underestimated - massive economic stimulus plan required | PDF
  • 2003: 35-hour week in East Germany - fair, effective and affordable | PDF
  • 1984: 35 hours are enough! Reducing mass unemployment and improving working and living conditions by reducing working hours | PDF | ISBN 978-3-7609-0865-6

Memorandum of the EuroMemo Group

  • 2020: A Green New Deal for Europe - Opportunities and Challenges | EuroMemo 2020 | PDF (currently only in English)
  • 2019: Prospects for a Political Economy for All in Europe | PDF
  • 2018: can the EU still be saved? The consequences of a multi-speed Europe | PDF
  • 2017: The European Union: Risk of Disintegration | PDF
  • 2016: Ways to Address the Crises in Europe: An Agenda for Economic Change, Solidarity and Democracy | PDF
  • 2015: The future of the European Union: stagnation and polarization or a fundamental reorientation? | PDF
  • 2014: Europe divides. The need for radical alternatives to current EU policies | PDF | PDF abstract
  • 2013: The crisis in the European Union deepens | PDF | PDF abstract
  • 2011/2012: European integration at a crossroads | PDF | PDF abstract
  • 2010/2011: Confronting the crisis: austerity or solidarity | PDF | PDF abstract
  • 2009/2010: Europe in Crisis: How the EU Failed in Crisis | PDF
  • 2008/2009: The democratic reorganization of the financial sector, a full employment regime and ecological restructuring - alternatives to financial market-driven capitalism | PDF
  • 2007: Full employment with good jobs, a strong public sector and international cooperation | PDF | ISBN 978-3-89965-289-5
  • 2006: A democratic economic alternative to the neoliberal restructuring of Europe | PDF | ISBN 978-3-89965-232-1
  • 2005: Democratic politics against the rule of the markets - Proposals for an integrated development strategy in Europe | PDF

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b Memorandum Group - Who is the Working Group Alternative Economic Policy eV? Retrieved May 28, 2019 .
  2. ↑ Summer School of the Working Group on Alternative Economic Policy. Retrieved May 28, 2019 .
  3. ↑ Christian Weßling (editor): Wir , subpage on umverteilen.de ( Memento from February 2, 2016 in the Internet Archive ), last accessed on September 30, 2012
  4. ↑ Online TV video press conference, presentation of the MEMORANDUM 2020 and the SPECIAL MEMORANDUM on the corona crisis . Retrieved April 18, 2020.
  5. ^ Award of Change
  6. ↑ Memoranda of Eastern Germany 1991 to 2009 . Retrieved March 7, 2019.