"The next government will have to make some hard choices and contend with the fact that Berlin is broke."
Genuine question: What does being broke mean for a city really? I am not an economist or accountant but just having a budget deficit does not mean a city is "broke", does it? I read the article you linked to and there are ways the new Senat could raise revenues...
By broke, I mean Berlin is spending €5-€6 billion each year that it doesn't have. Berlin already has debts totalling €67 billion, a near all-time record. Die Linke wants to take on more debt for its projects. They could be in for a nasty surprise. They would like to increase the tax on property sales and introduce a special tax on "luxury villas" but I don't believe this would bring in the funds they need. They could increase the Gewerbesteuer, a tax on company profits levied by local governments but I am not so sure SPD would go ahead with these measures because they might be seen as too anti-business. In my opinion Berlin needs more successful businesses that generate more jobs and taxes for the city, but that's not Die Linke's focus. Taz has a interesting article on Berlin's financial situtation: https://taz.de/Berlins-Schuldenpolitik/!6195772/
Thanks for the shout-out
"The next government will have to make some hard choices and contend with the fact that Berlin is broke."
Genuine question: What does being broke mean for a city really? I am not an economist or accountant but just having a budget deficit does not mean a city is "broke", does it? I read the article you linked to and there are ways the new Senat could raise revenues...
By broke, I mean Berlin is spending €5-€6 billion each year that it doesn't have. Berlin already has debts totalling €67 billion, a near all-time record. Die Linke wants to take on more debt for its projects. They could be in for a nasty surprise. They would like to increase the tax on property sales and introduce a special tax on "luxury villas" but I don't believe this would bring in the funds they need. They could increase the Gewerbesteuer, a tax on company profits levied by local governments but I am not so sure SPD would go ahead with these measures because they might be seen as too anti-business. In my opinion Berlin needs more successful businesses that generate more jobs and taxes for the city, but that's not Die Linke's focus. Taz has a interesting article on Berlin's financial situtation: https://taz.de/Berlins-Schuldenpolitik/!6195772/
Quite satisfied with the results, and I genuinely wonder how they will govern. Mamdani-style sewer socialism or something else?
There's no money in the budget so no, I don't think so. I don't think much will change. It's Berlin!