My DW: Will the gas-price cap keep firms in Germany? BASF & German politicians’ years-long energy policies have collapsed.

Posted on November 1, 2022 | Leave a comment

I was interviewed (Tuesday 01nov22) on the new gas-price cap plan the German government is expected to approve tomorrow.

I was asked four questions by DW’s host Kate Ferguson:

-1- Thomas, it`s interesting to see the government attach conditions to these price caps for companies. How worried is it about a corporate exodus?

-2- German chancellor Olaf Scholz is visiting a BASF factory today – just days after the company announced major cost cutting – complaining that gas prices were up to six times higher at home than in the US. Are these caps enough to prevent OTHER companies from following suit?

– 3- Managing gas prices is one thing. But with a recession looming what ELSE does the German government need to do to keep companies afloat?

-4- The EU hasn`t been able to agree on a COMMON gas price cap. How damaging is it for countries to go it alone? I was not particularly optimistic.

The above were not especially technical energy-sector questions, so my answers combine assessments of energy-sector facts facing Germany with geopolitical and geo-economic assessments of the deep crisis facing German industry, citizens and the political establishment. Read more on my blog: http:GlobalBarrel.com .

In the midst of a fierce energy war which Putin is hoping will come to compensate for the obvious military fiasco which is his aggression against Ukraine, it is important to be cognizant of what we are facing – citizens and business alike. And, to understand the policies and decisions that got Germany (I am in Berlin) to this point.

Recommended reading – some recent articles on these issues (from Reuters and DW):

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