Economics Minister Robert Habeck wants to be able to break up the oil companies if necessary.
(Photo: IMAGO/Political Moments)
Despite the tank discount, fuel prices are not falling. Economics Minister Robert Habeck therefore wants to be able to break up the corporations if necessary. The Federation of German Industries and some economists will reflexively dismiss the possible unbundling of corporate structures as a market-economy aberration on the part of a Green politician.
But the Economics Minister can refer to a predecessor who is certainly not suspected of any socialist activities. As early as the 1950s, Ludwig Erhard wanted to include the possibility of breaking up dominant corporations in the law against restraints of competition. The project failed at the time because of “Rhenish capitalism” with its complete immobility when changes were needed.
Today, in the face of the Ukraine war, inflation and dependence on Russian energy, political actors are ready to take decisions that would have been unthinkable just a short time ago.
The fiduciary management of Gazprom’s German subsidiaries by the Federal Network Agency alone shows how quickly one can intervene in private property rights if necessary.
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The debate about the tank discount could now prompt the state to act again. The mineral oil companies are apparently raking in billions in tax money, but consumers are not aware of the tax cut. The corporations do not create transparency either.
>> Also read: Who really benefits from the tank discount – and why Habeck has plans to skim off profits
However, if industries exhibit oligopolistic structures or corporations abuse their market position, then there must also be means to help the competitors. Citizens then benefit, since prices usually fall as well. Even if the oil companies apparently think the state is stupid at the moment, it is not defenseless. There are numerous examples of this, even in the country of capitalism par excellence.
The effect of the tax break on fuel continues to melt away.
(Photo: dpa)
In the USA in 1911, John D. Rockefeller had to experience this for the first time. At that time he had become a billionaire with Standard Oil, the largest oil refinery company in the world, and threatened fair competition with his group.
Then-US President Franklin D. Roosevelt created US anti-trust law, and the Supreme Court thereafter ordered Standard Oil’s dissolution. The American oil industry did not go under. With Exxon Mobil and Chevron, two US oil companies are currently among the top ten in the world.
Breaking up corporate structures is always the ultima ratio
So it is primarily up to the mineral oil companies how determined the Federal Government is to tighten the powers of the Federal Cartel Office. Whoever is now warning of an industrial-political monster authority must also explain why the basic values of the market economy, personal responsibility and property, have to take second place to the idea of competition.
It cannot be that Federal Finance Minister Christian Lindner (FDP) rightly wants to relieve commuters, families and craftsmen and then fails because of the corporations. However, one thing must be clear: before the state takes this regulatory measure, all other means must be exhausted. Breaking up corporate structures is always the ultima ratio.
Now there are economists like Marcel Fratzscher who believe that tightening antitrust law will no longer prevent the oil companies from taking their toll. However, the DIW President made a fatal mistake when assessing the risk of inflation.
Above all, however, there should be a rethinking process in the corporate headquarters if politicians build up the market economy guillotine for everyone to see. Inflation will be with us for many years to come, and with fuel prices continuing to rise, the ax could fall faster than corporations think.
More: Three billion euros tank discount and no car driver notices – This is how the oil industry defends itself