Germans are in an angry mood just now, which explains the recent "shift to the left" among the electorate. They were told that neo-liberal reforms would lead to new prosperity, that dismantling the social economy (Sozialwirtschaft) would benefit all Germans and make the economy competitive in the globalized markets. And, in fact, big companies such as BMW and Bayer AG are achieving record profits just now, and are ….laying off thousands of workers. Meanwhile the top managers are cashing in huge windfall bonuses and stock options, which they hide in Liechtenstein bank accounts to avoid paying taxes in Germany. The gap between the rich and poor is growing much larger, while the German middle class (Mittelschicht) is rapidly vanishing. Is Germany’s managerial class even aware of what is going on in the country?
Apparently not. "We are not monsters!" says Deutsche Bank’s CEO Josef Ackermann in a hilarious interview in Der Spiegel. Managers are simply misunderstood. They work hard – not for money – but for the success of their companies. Money is secondary, but managers deserve every cent, since it is their effort that has created enormous wealth in Germany. They are unjustly criticized.
In the same interview, Ackermann boasts about how Deutsche Bank saw the subprime mortgage crisis developing in the US earlier than other banks, and was able to react sooner – minimizing its losses. In an earlier post I wrote about how Deutsche Bank dumped its portfolios of mortgage-backed securities on German state-owned banks, forcing taxpayers finance a costly bailout.
Are Germany’s top managers sociopaths? Have they lost all connection to ordinary people? It would seem so, says the editor of Capital magazine. He has a very good recommendation:
"Es mag verstörend klingen, aber warum sollte der Chef eines
Dax-Konzerns nicht verpflichtet werden, mehrere Tage im Jahr im
Krankenhaus die Bettpfannen auszuleeren, in der Suppenküche für
Obdachlose zu helfen oder einsame Menschen zu besuchen? Unsere
Top-Manager würden sich dort an etwas erinnern, das den meisten wohl
verloren gegangen ist: Demut." (It may sound extreme, but why shouldn’t the CEO of a Dax-listed corporation be required to spend several days every year emptying bedpans in a hospital? Our top-managers would thereby be forced to remember what most have evidently completely forgotten: humility.)
What’s your answer to that, Herr Ackermann?
