Journalistenrunde: Die große Verwirrung – Staatsverschuldung und Generationengerechtigkeit

The planned increase in German government debt is widely regarded as a violation of intergenerational justice. Adalbert Winkler, Professor of International and Development Finance at Frankfurt School, argues, however, that macroeconomic and sectoral balance sheets show that this assumption is just as false as the idea that Germany is or will become a ‘debt-ridden country’.  

At our latest online journalists' roundtable on 9 December 2025, Professor Winkler explained that this clarification is important because geopolitical upheavals require a change in wealth accumulation patterns for the German economy as a whole and its individual sectors. Without an expansion of government debt, this will hardly be possible if a prolonged period of stagnation or worse is to be avoided.

Watch the entire video in German here: