The Commissioner for Eastern Germany, Elisabeth Kaiser, is making a new push for a fairer distribution of wealth in East and West. A "basic inheritance" is an "exciting idea", as is the debate on wealth and inheritance tax and the planned early retirement pension, the SPD politician told the German Press Agency (dpa). She is presenting her annual report this afternoon, shortly before the 35th anniversary of reunification.
"35 years after German reunification, we still have entrenched wealth structures in Germany," said Kaiser. "This doesn't just affect East-West, but there really is a huge gap between rich and poor." The question is therefore: "How can we achieve equality of wealth?"
A "basic inheritance" would be a kind of state-financed start-up capital for young adults. With the early-start pension, people save for old age from childhood with state help.
