ARD talk: “Hard but fair” debut: That’s how Louis Klamroth did

Monday evening in the first “Hard but fair”, everything as always. Only the moderator looked strange, in a black suit over a black T-shirt and white sneakers – irritatingly boyish. Did Frank Plasberg use the long winter break for a (un)secret makeover?

Of course not, but Louis Klamroth looked almost like his younger copy in his very first “Hart aber fair” moderation. His own accents were not yet recognizable, but he had the role of prompter perfectly ready: he set the pace for the well-researched questions, and sometimes let the answers go a tad too long. And only once did he have to intervene harder—than Jens Spahn (CDU) just didn’t want to stop talking and criticizing the “communication of the federal government”.

“Hard but fair”: These guests were there on Monday

But even that was still within the normal range. Lars Klingbeil (SPD) was able to smile mildly at the expected attacks from the “esteemed colleague” and congratulate Caren Miosga on the “successful premiere” at the punctual, ritual handover to the “daily topics”. Klamroth’s first was “A country is getting poorer – who will pay the 2023 crisis bill?” “Hard but fair” overwritten this Monday.

When it came to the final question – who wanted to eat which shellfish dish with whom – metal worker Engin Kelik came up with the idea of ​​at least fictitiously inviting all fellow talkers to an original Turkish lentil soup – “so that you can get an insight into what it’s like at home. After all, he was the only one in the group who was poor enough to be able to tell from his own experience how it felt – when he told his daughters about their last Christmas couldn’t give the tablet she wanted, just “a little something for 10 or 15 euros.”

Forecast for “Hard but fair”: Prices will not drop noticeably until 2025

However, he had only recently discovered the €300 energy allowance that had been paid to all employees in October in his account. “Actually only during the preparation for this show,” he admitted.

More important than “something like that one-time payment“It was clear to him anyway that prices were generally going down again. He couldn’t believe that this would only become noticeable in 2024 or 2025 at the latest: “By then the ship will have sunk and can only be salvaged as a wreck,” he explained of his family’s financial situation.

“With your net income of EUR 2,300, you have EUR 200 per month Purchasing Power Loss“Jens Spahn quickly calculated. Inflation is currently at 8.7 percent. The traffic light reacted much too late to the threatening price development, Spahn complained: “That was an issue a year ago”, when the Ukraine war had not even broken out. also read: Inflation 2022: highest value since reunification

“Hard but fair”: Copy idea from Spain?

As a result of this war, food in particular became more expensive. According to the Federal Statistical Office, by 20.7 percent. Wouldn’t that be a good idea, asked Louis Klamrothto abolish VAT on groceries, like in Spain for example?

Melanie Amann from “Spiegel” voted for it because “especially for small ones income would be a huge relief.” And not nearly as complicated as the various aid packages that the federal government has launched so far. In any case, almost no one can understand what they bring to the individual. more on the subject: Inflation, interest and savings: Three tips for the nest egg

However, Amann wants to see VAT on groceries abolished “in toto”. Not just on “fruit, vegetables and legumes”, as Cem Özdemir has already considered as Federal Minister of Agriculture (Greens). A restriction to only “desirable” Food would rather frustrate people, she warned, recalling the failed Veggie Day proposal, with which the Greens had already fallen flat on their faces.

Also interesting: Climate activist and moderator: Luisa Neubauer and Louis Klamroth are a couple

SPD boss Lars Klingbeil didn’t want to know about it. “The wealthy would also benefit from the abolition of VAT,” he explained. Yet again. The SPD chairman had already had to listen to this with the gas price brake, which also benefits rich homeowners with their own sauna – even more so than the poor in poorly insulated social housing. “It’s time to give something back,” he said in the direction of higher earners, and wished for a broad discussion on the “issue of justice”.

Economics Monika Schnitzer shared this point of view. She proposed an “energy solo”: for a limited period of one year or one and a half, those still paying the solo – ie higher earners, investors, limited liability companies and other corporations – should pay double the rate. That would bring ten billion euros, she calculated. No medium-sized company would move abroad because of this sum, said Schnitzer.

For the edition of “Hart aber fair” in the ARD media library.

You can find more articles from this category here: Television