德国经济政策调整的新动向:“国家回归”?

“The Return of the State”?New Trends in Economic Policy Adjustment in Germany

在德国社会市场经济体制的实践中,国家干预所扮演的角色经历了摇摆过程。为应对2008-2009年的金融危机,德国政府采取了国有化、经济复苏政策和金融市场规制等手段,呈现出"国家回归"的趋势。德国经济部长阿尔特迈尔2019年年初提出的国家工业战略文件,引发了新一轮关于国家角色的讨论。本文以"干预型国家"的五种典型政策工具,即政府支出、国有企业的设立与扶持、产品和劳动力市场的监管、补贴和企业税收为主要分析维度,结合对产业政策的调整、《对外经济条例》的修订以及新冠肺炎疫情危机的应对这三个政策调整动向的考察,分析了国家干预型政策工具得到延续乃至增强的具体表现,并在此基础上论述了其在德国、欧盟及国际层面可能带来的影响。这三项政策调整动向表明,德国近年来进一步加强了国家干预型政策工具的运用。然而,德国社会市场经济体制中的"国家回归"依然是有限度的,因为德国主流社会仍然对国家干预性措施的运用持有疑虑。未来,如果这些措施如愿在某种程度上取得成效,势必会带来新的动能,使得"干预型国家"的政策工具在德国各界获得进一步的认可。

In the practice of Germany’s social market economy, the role of state intervention has undergone twists and turns. In response to the 2008-2009 financial crisis, a “return of the state” has been demonstrated by the German government’s adoption of a series of measures such as nationalization and financial market regulation. The national industrial strategy paper presented by German Minister of Economic Affairs Peter Altmaier at the beginning of2019 triggered a new round of discussions on the role of the state. Started with the five kinds of state interventionist policy instruments, this article analyses the performances illustrating the maintenance and enhancement of the policy instruments of state intervention in the context of three cases, namely, the adjustment of industrial policy, the revision of foreign economic regulations and the response to the Covid-19 pandemic crisis. This article then discusses the possible implications of such a trend for Germany, the EU and the international community. This article argues that these three cases show that Germany has further strengthened the use of state interventionist policy instruments in recent years, but the “return to the state” within the German social market economy system will remain limited due to the skepticism about the use of state interventionist measures by mainstream German society. If such measures could achieve some success in the future, they will undoubtedly bring new momentum for and further recognition of the policy instruments with the character of a“interventionist state”.