Investment Summit | At the peak of privatization

Chancellor Friedrich Merz is happy to have a new friend at the investment summit: the head of the US chip manufacturer Nvidia, Jensen Huang. Together they want to advance automation in industry. Photo: dpa/Fabian Sommer England and Wales privatized the largest water supplier, Thames Water, in the 1980s. For years, the company discharged untreated wastewater into rivers, lakes and the sea in order to make greater profits and pay out higher dividends, and it became increasingly indebted through risky investments. The company has been teetering on the brink of bankruptcy for three years; re-nationalization would cost the British government billions. Today, Thames Water exemplifies the consequences of the privatization of critical infrastructure.

Around 2015, the process of financialization, i.e. the spread of the logic of the financial markets to general public services, continued to intensify. The idea: to finance strategic state areas through the investments of international corporations. We see the results in many different places in Germany today. Private care providers have been squeezing salaries and staffing ratios for years. Since then, a lack of staff and underfunding have become noticeable in the care conditions. Housing companies are systematically allowing real estate stocks to deteriorate and driving up rents. Gas companies are ripping off customers when it comes to district heating costs. Everything for the return.

When the Federal Cabinet now rolls out the red carpet for financial investors at its own investment summit, it is, to say the least, a pain in the ass. Yes, sustainable industry and basic services are in great need of investment - especially since the lion's share of the state budget goes towards armaments. However, countless examples show that when responsibility is transferred to large private investors, the population, climate and working standards suffer. To prevent this from happening, at least different investment objectives are needed - such as a stronger focus on the conditions of employees, decarbonization and basic services for the population. At best, there needs to be a shift in priorities in the federal government's budget.

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