Trust remains shaken

Germans believe they have largely overcome the economic crisis. However, confidence in large corporations and major banks remains shaken. This is the conclusion reached by the 2009 Ethik-Monitor published by the ‘Wertevolle Zukunft’ Foundation. German citizens rate the country’s economic situation in the second half of the year significantly more favourably than they did in the first half. Nevertheless, they continue to call for clear and firm restrictions on the economy from the federal government. This is the finding of the 2009 Ethik-Monitor, a representative study by the Wertevolle Zukunft Foundation in collaboration with Zeppelin University.

A quantum leap in German citizens’ assessment of the country’s economic situation

The average mark given by German citizens to the country’s economic situation on a scale of 1 (very poor) to 5 (very good) improved from 2.39 to 2.65 in the second half of the year. Professor Joachim Behnke of Zeppelin University considers this increase of 0.26 points on the scale to be “downright dramatic”: “The changes in Germany’s economic situation are not only highly significant in a statistical sense, but also represent, in a sense, a quantum leap in substantive terms. The shock caused by the economic and financial crisis has largely subsided once again, and there is a return to more or less normal conditions.”

Faith in the functioning of the financial system shaken – majority of supporters of major banks call for state intervention in the economy

What remains even after the ‘return to normality’ is a massive deficit of trust. Only 32 per cent of German citizens still believe in the functioning of the economic system; as for the financial system, the figure is as low as 12 per cent. There is particular mistrust of the major banks. A mere 7 per cent place their trust in them. When asked what conclusions should be drawn from this, the respondents’ verdict is clear: 60 per cent are calling for the state to impose clear and firm restrictions on the economy. It is telling that even a clear majority of 60 per cent of those who still have confidence in the major banks now support greater state intervention in the economy. In the first half of the year, this figure was only half as high.

German citizens praise the federal government’s crisis management measures – yet at the same time, 67 per cent accuse it of wasting taxpayers’ money

The call for state intervention goes hand in hand with a huge surge in confidence in the federal government and the Bundestag. For example, at 31 per cent of those surveyed, more than twice as many German citizens now have confidence in the federal government than in 2006. One reason for this is the high level of acceptance of the measures the government has taken to tackle the economic and financial crisis. Only a quarter of those surveyed consider them to be wrong. The paradox is that, although the federal government is able to present itself to the outside world as a crisis manager, it is itself credited with little financial competence. Two-thirds of those surveyed agree with the statement that the federal government wastes a large proportion of tax revenue on unnecessary expenditure.

You can find more information on the 2009 Ethik-Monitor here.