SearchPublisher and Institutes
You are here: Home :: Area CULI :: History :: Recent and contemporary history
Marc Hansmann
Paths towards a State of Debt
Keywords: Finanzgeschichte im 20. Jahrhundert, Entwicklung der Staatsverschuldung, Drohender Staatsbankrott, Entwicklung der Steuereinnahmen
The question, whether the structural problems of German Fiscal policy can be explained historically, is at the centre of this article. The result of this investigation is clear: The current deficits of the public budgets as well as the false stimuli resulting from an overcomplicated tax system and fiscal constitution are historically explainable. The foundations of the structural problems go back as far as the Imperial period. In spite of a number of fiscal shocks, there are remarkable continuities in the areas of investigation: budget policy, tax policy and fiscal constitution. But the quintessence of the article is not a historical determinism. Rather, there never where any exigencies for fiscal policy which would have excluded alternative policies outright. This is also true for the current situation. With cognizance of the historical causes, the structural problems of German fiscal politics can be solved in the medium term.
Vierteljahrshefte für Zeitgeschichte, Oldenbourg Wissenschaftsverlag
Print ISSN: 0042-5702
Volume: 55, 03/2007
Pages: 425 - 461