Why I Love the Economist

This week's Economist has a simple but great article on the German (centre-right) goverment's plan to introduce a USD 200 benefit for stay-at-home moms (Betreuungsgeld). The article argues that this will encourage even more moms to stay out of the workforce, and also be detrimental to e.g. immigrant children, who would benefit from having German language instruction early on, as they mostly drop off the academic curve right at the start due to very poor or non-existent Gemran language skills when they start school. (Perhaps my dear education expert friend would like to write about this and its horrendous implications.) The proposed policy has been nicknamed the "oven premium" (Herdpraemie). Although I generally consider myself rather centre-left politically, I usually agree with most of the Economist's arguments, which are very liberal (centre-right, laissez faire). Maybe this is because having read the Economist for nearly 15 years now, I have simply been brainwashed. But I think this article is an example of why I find the Economist convincing: they often think some degree of governance interference is needed, but believe that the role of goverment is to open up opportunities, not to dictate and stifle these. The German government has argued that this planned benefit would encourage "freedom of choice". USD 200 (EUR 150) is a lot of money for those who could earn the minimum EUR 400 per month, and then still have to deduct a minimum of EUR 40 for a creche place (state daycare is charged per income, i.e. low earners pay close to nothing, high earners a 20-fold of this). Why bother even trying to (re-)enter the job market? As a friend of mine wrote in response to some of these German policies, these were abolished in most places already in the 1970s. Time to face 2012, Berlin!