Babler in Berlin:

“State must define rules for the economy”

SPÖ leader Andreas Babler(Bild: APA/ROBERT JAEGER)

SPÖ leader Andreas Babler formulated his version of a strong state in Berlin on Wednesday. This should receive more money through a tax on millionaires and the closing of tax loopholes. Babler was one of the speakers at the "Day of Progressive Economic Policy" at the SPD-affiliated Friedrich Ebert Foundation.

"Even in the past, nobody thought it was possible to establish a strong welfare state. Now it is once again a matter of the state defining the rules for economic policy," said Babler in Berlin on Wednesday. Location policy must be geared towards the common interests of employees and industry. Such interests are the welfare state and investment criteria, concrete examples being a stable network infrastructure, healthcare and calculable energy prices.

20 billion euros for a "transformation fund"
The SPÖ leader called for a so-called "Austria Transformation Fund" worth EUR 20 billion or at least four percent of annual economic output. This should provide funds for "the urgently needed restructuring of industry, agriculture and the expansion of the welfare state". The fund is to be financed by a tax on millionaires and by closing tax loopholes.

More and more companies are realizing that productivity increases when working hours are reduced.

SPÖ-Chef Andreas Babler

Another of Batler's demands, which he presented on Wednesday, was also not new - the reduction of working hours, which he believes could lead to fewer sick days and a better working atmosphere. "More and more companies are realizing that productivity increases when working hours are reduced," the Traiskirchen mayor is convinced. Politicians just need to dare to actively shape the economy again.