"Krone" commentary

More efficiency instead of austerity measures

Taking stock for the "Krone": Chief Economist Georg Wailand

(Bild: Krone KREATIV)

It all seemed so difficult: The would-be three-party coalition marched up with hundreds of experts to save over six billion euros in the first year, that already sounded like a huge drumbeat. Which party was going to swing this "austerity club" the hardest, who was going to be hit the hardest?

Before things got really serious, the zeal of the "Zuckerl" coalition waned. It disappeared from the radar. According to the motto: start weak and let up hard.

But now, what a miracle, everything seems to be so easy: 6.3 billion euros in savings, whoosh, are already being announced as a victory by the FPÖ and ÖVP. Barely started and already so successful? Ordinary citizens and taxpayers are justifiably suspicious: If it were all so easy, why haven't others succeeded in the same way?

Nevertheless, there is a good chance that many of the budget cuts will be successful. Why? The money was distributed too loosely, there was hardly any income differentiation in the "whatever it takes" approach, the state gave and the citizens took - until the coffers were yawningly empty.

Now, when the "austerity club" is swung by a new government: There is an easier way! The magic word is "more efficiency", little Austria has 797,300 state employees - the huge EU, on the other hand, manages with 79,211 ...