The Struggle for Distribution

»Wealth for all« used to be the famous catch phrase of Ludwig Erhard, the second German chancellor, and it has been the creed of German public policy for 60 years. Yet Germany has failed to live up to this ideal; our economic game is rigged. No other industrialized nation has such a high degree of inequality – in income, wealth, and opportunities. In-vestments are declining, especially investment in people, which was previously regarded as the country's greatest asset. Equally, economic growth is slowing and social partici-pation is decreasing. The fight for a piece of the pie is becoming harder. The reason for these ills is not the insufficient distribution of wealth. It is mostly due to the scarcity of opportunities that prevents people from developing and applying their potential. Marcel Fratzscher points out how our political process can channel and take advantage of the great influx of migrants to further their integration.