SCHROEDER AND THE ECONOMY

For good coverage of German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder's recent speech in the Bundestag on his plans for economic reform, go to Saturday's NYT piece. Berlin's Der Tagesspiegel takes note of sharp resistance to Schroeder from the left and from unions, but also blames much of the criticism on a sense of insecurity created by his administration's haphazard approach to economic reform. Among the ranks of Schroeder's coalition partner, the Greens, a movement to call a "special party meeting" is afoot to protest Schroeder's plans, which have been supported by Green party leaders in Berlin. Green party members have often been at odds with their leadership, most famously over the question of German participation in military actions in Kosovo. But Schroeder's speech also impressed some members of the opposition, including Horst Seehofer from the CSU (Christian Socialists, the Bavarian version of the CDU), who said, "I'm very satisfied by Schroeder's discussion of social policy." Angelika Merkel, head of the main opposition party (CDU), criticized Schroeder's speech as a repetition of well-known facts and as vague on reform proposals. The Sueddeutsche's commentary faults Schroeder's speech for failing to live up to the hype created by the administration over the past few weeks. The editorial board at the Sueddeutsche also worries that Schroeder's plans will burden weak sectors of society, a worry that is, of course, shared by the leftist tageszeitung. Their commentary? "Germany's newest hope: the sick, the elderly, and the unemployed."

I'll have to ask Bill, my economist friend across the hall, to tell me what he thinks about Schroeder's plans. Bill isn't in the office today, though. He's probably outside on his racing bike. He's smart. The weather here was too nice (in the fifties, sixties tomorrow) to be cooped up inside staring at a computer screen. . .