Philippa Sigl-Glöckner
The state as crisis manager
January 13, 2023
The state plays a special role in economic crises. As the only one involved, he can cushion existential risks, keep companies alive, shape international trade relations at the political level and change the rules of the market with regulatory law. In a situation like today, he will have to use the entire toolbox. This entails special challenges: First, the state inevitably shapes the economy in crises. This requires a vision and a strong understanding of current economic structures. Secondly, questions of legitimacy arise: How do you ensure democratic legitimacy in times of crisis, when the executive has particularly far-reaching powers to act and which have a particularly large impact on the lives of individuals? If, for example, large financial packages are passed to subsidize certain energy sources or if the state decides to no longer subsidize certain companies and thousands of jobs will be lost? The lecture examines how the German federal government can be both an effective and democratically legitimized crisis manager for the economy and where its limits lie.
Philippa Sigl-Glöckner is the founder and director of the think tank Department Future, which focuses on monetary, financial and economic policy. She primarily deals with fiscal and monetary policy issues. Previously, Mrs. Sigl-Glöckner worked in the Federal Ministry of Finance in Berlin, the Liberian Ministry of Finance, at the World Bank and in a management consultancy in London. Philippa Sigl-Glöckner holds a BA in Philosophy, Politics and Economics from Oxford University and an MSc in Computer Science from Imperial College, London. She is deputy chair of the economic policy advisory board of the SPD party executive and was selected for the Atlantic Bridge Young Leaders Program, the Capital 40 under 40 2020 and 2021, Handelsblatt Vordenker 2020 and the Forbes 30 under 30 list 2019.
Philippa Sigl-Glöckner
Philippa Sigl-Glöckner is the founder and director of the think tank Department Future, which focuses on monetary, financial and economic policy. She primarily deals with fiscal and monetary policy issues. Philippa previously worked at the Federal Ministry of Finance in Berlin, the Liberian Ministry of Finance, at the World Bank and in management consulting in London.
Philippa holds a BA in Philosophy, Politics and Economics from Oxford University and an MSc in Computer Science from Imperial College, London. She is deputy chair of the economic policy advisory board of the SPD party executive and was selected for the Atlantic Bridge Young Leaders Program, the Capital 40 under 40 2020 and 2021, Handelsblatt Vordenker 2020 and the Forbes 30 under 30 list 2019.
Recording of the lecture on January 13, 2023
Review of the evening lecture with Philippa Sigl-Glöckner
The politician speaks passionately about the urgent challenges we face in times of the energy and climate crisis. She explains how the state has already achieved a great deal in overcoming the crisis - but she warns that without massive investment in renewable energies and education, competitiveness is at risk in the long term. Things get particularly exciting when she discusses the debt brake: she sees it as a major obstacle to the necessary future investments.