“Taking responsibility”? In truth: even more stress

I find the wording cheeky. In my opinion, we entrepreneurs have enough responsibility. We create jobs, create added value for our customers – and already pay the state a lot of tax money. At some point the end of the flagpole is reached.

Because it is not the political Sunday speakers who create wealth, but rather entrepreneurs and the self-employed who give full throttle every day, take risks, invest and secure jobs.

Although I now live in Spain, my company is still based in Germany. I pay my taxes there, and not too little. And I can tell you: For many people, the pain threshold has long been reached, even if politically no one seems to want to hear that. Germany punishes performance!

More and more expensive, less and less – does that still fit together?

How is this supposed to continue? We are experiencing rising costs of living, growing taxes and at the same time cuts in state services. The front and back no longer fit together.

However, that is exactly the reality in Germany in 2026. And then the government seriously wonders why the mood is changing, why companies are leaving and why more and more citizens are coming to the realization that performance is becoming less and less worthwhile? You can’t make it up.

It is clear that money is missing everywhere. And it is also obvious that this problem cannot be solved through savings alone. Germany has maneuvered itself into a dangerous situation, and once you’re so close to the edge, it’s going to be damned difficult to correct course in time.

Subsidies don’t save the economy

Of course we need investments in future technologies. E-car funding, green steel – these are important topics, no question.

But what good does all this do if we simultaneously destroy our country’s economic base? When companies increasingly consider whether Germany is still worthwhile as a location? The best climate policy is of no use if it comes at the expense of economic substance.

Focus on the essentials: education, infrastructure, digitalization

What we need now is no more tinkering, but a clear change of course. A real corporate tax reform would be a start – not at some point, but now. Inheritance tax also urgently needs to be improved so that family businesses are not, in the worst case scenario, forced to sell when there is a generational change. We finally need a clear signal again: performance is worth it again in Germany.

I am aware that this cannot happen overnight. Because the core problem lies deeper. The state has become too big, too slow and too inefficient.

My opinion: Instead of always launching new programs, we finally need the courage to concentrate on the essentials: education, infrastructure, digitalization. At the same time, bureaucracy must be reduced and inefficient subsidies must be consistently questioned.

The inconvenient truth

If things continue as they are, Germany will not only lose tax revenue. But also more and more people who are prepared to take responsibility, take risks and create jobs.

I wrote about exactly this four years ago – in my Spiegel bestseller “Dodoland – we’re doing too well”.

Now, at the latest, the moment has finally come when the politicians should finally see the light: it is precisely this “too good” that is falling heavily on our feet because nothing has been done for far too long. How long do you want to keep playing this game? And how many top performers can this country afford to lose?