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Economics Minister Karl Schiller on "Concerted Action" (January 9, 1967)

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In this concerted action, as we call it, by unions and employers’ associations, the federal government, supported by its large parliamentary majority, will lead the way with powerful economic and financial policies. Shaping the federal budget for 1967 in a manner appropriate to the economic situation and financial planning for the coming years will play just as important a role in this as the rehabilitation of the capital market and the immediate passage of the Stability Law. But we can only create the preconditions for the immediate upturn of our economy by enacting flexible and elastic policies that are oriented equally toward the two goals of growth and stability. Stability and growth must rank equally as indicators in a well-balanced economic policy. The aim of the economic policy for 1967 is: expansion or an upswing in the economic situation to an appropriate extent [Aufschwung nach Maß], that is, to the extent that is possible in our economy. The new upswing that we want to introduce must remain under the control of the economic policy. But it also should not be hindered out of pure fear of worries about new dangers.

Looking back on the year 1966, we must confirm that it brought with it serious economic difficulties, which were intensified not least by the political uncertainty of the fall months. Now, after the political crisis has been overcome and the government has gone to work with a sense of determination, the economy, too, can look to the future with greater confidence and trust. The stabilization of the political conditions will give the economy new impulses and thereby help to immediately overcome the present period of weakness. To be sure, 1967 will not be a year of major economic growth and great increases in affluence. But I am quite sure that it will be a year of economic and financial consolidation and the beginning of a new upward trend.

Ladies and gentlemen, I wish you a pleasant evening.



Source: German Federal Minister of Economics Karl Schiller on the State of Economic Policy, Bavarian Radio, January 9, 1967.

Translation: Allison Brown

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