At the end of June, Heiner Flassbeck visited the Kreisky-Forum to urge politicians to think holistically again as holistic thinking has disappeared from politics after the end of Keynesianism 30-40 years ago. In particular, Flassbeck criticized that politics ignores the logic of the global economy and that people didn’t benefit from the increases in productivity in the last decades.
In this regard, businesses would benefit if employees benefit from productivity increases as this could fuel domestic demand in times of weak exports. If we don’t support the people, the current austerity approaches will fail and cause more business failures, lead to higher unemployment and increase the probability of deflation.
As a result, the current crisis needs politicians who are able to engage in connected and creative thinking. In this regard, connected thinking means that politicians understand the economic nexus as well as the interdependencies of politics, the economy and the environment.
On the other hand, creative thinking means that we shouldn’t listen to procrastinators or preventers but to those businesses who will benefit in the long-term from environmental tax reforms or other future-oriented measures. Let us remember this when we’re thinking about our current problems and challenges!
