Kommentar: Der Tankrabatt und die Realsatire mit den Kontonummern
Der Kanzler will beim teuren Benzin und Diesel entlasten. Egal, wie er das macht: Es wird das Steuergeld nicht wert sein. Die einzig sinnvolle Option bekommt Berlin nicht auf die Reihe.
The cost of fuel and diesel is once again reaching record highs, causing problems for people in rural areas. Chancellor Friedrich Merz (CDU) is considering intervening again, which is not a scandal in itself. The issue is that the German state has failed to help at the pump during price spikes in the past. This problem has been known since the oil crisis of the 1970s, at least since Russia's invasion of Ukraine in 2022.
Debates are resurfacing about a fuel discount, a price ceiling, or a reduction in the CO2 levy. All these measures share the same flaws: they are not precise, expensive, and counterproductive. Precise because they benefit both wealthy SUV drivers from the city and small car owners from the village. Expensive because these aids cost the state billions, which it does not have.
Counterproductive because artificially lowering prices does not encourage drivers to reduce their consumption. It does not matter whether a price ceiling directly lowers prices or reduces state taxes on the liter price. The price ceiling has the additional disadvantage of leading the already heavily loaded refineries to produce more kerosene due to lower margins.
Written by urgent.news from Handelsblatt's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
