"Krone" guest commentary

An unsparing look at our economy

Christian Baha is a stock market expert and founded Austria's first stock market terminal in 1993, which supplies data in real time. In 1996, he established the world's first hedge fund for private investors. Baha has always pursued the vision of making funds for wealthy individuals accessible to smaller investors.(Bild: Krone KREATIV/stock.adobe.com)

Especially at the most contemplative time of the year, we need to take an unsparing look at the debt and economic crisis in our country. We are currently in an acute downward spiral that is endangering our prosperity. It is therefore better for our government negotiators to realize today than tomorrow that we are in a global competition. It would be pure denial of reality if we did not recognize that the USA is currently taking moderate measures by promoting successful captains of industry to government offices. This is a model that would also suit Austria well.

Thousands of people have lost their jobs in Austria in recent months. If we want to reverse this trend, we must become the most business-friendly country in Europe. Only profitable companies create jobs, tax revenues and purchasing power.

The future government should temporarily halve corporation tax, not only for companies that are setting up in Austria, but also for long-established cash cows such as Red Bull. That would be a real boost. Tax competition attracts successful companies and promotes prosperity, see Switzerland. In addition, liberal legislation would be needed in order to score points in future technologies such as artificial intelligence and cryptocurrencies.

In fact, this is not a pious wish. If we don't come to our senses as quickly as possible, we will soon find ourselves in the worst recession in 80 years.