SPD economist | The SPD economist who wants to remain independent

Recently appointed personal advisor to Federal Finance Minister Lars Klingbeil (SPD), Jens Südekum is once again skillfully playing the media spotlight. A prominent figure in the media reported on an initiative by the professor of international economics at Heinrich Heine University in Düsseldorf: Since employees at 65 enjoy the same protection against dismissal as 45-year-olds, companies are no longer employing older people for fear of never being able to get rid of them. The economist, who was a longtime member of the 41-member Scientific Advisory Board of the Ministry of Economics, is calling for more flexibility and is encountering opposition: The German Trade Union Confederation (DGB) is warning of second-class labor law for pensioners and a free pass for employers.

Südekum, whose main focus is digitalization and the transformation toward climate neutrality, became known to a wider audience through his talk-show attacks on former FDP Finance Minister Christian Lindner, who claimed his adherence to the debt brake was preventing necessary investments. In return, Lindner vetoed the SPD and Greens' attempt to appoint Südekum to the Council of Five Wise Men.

The 49-year-old from Lower Saxony rejected a direct move to the now SPD-led ministry, saying, "I value the independence." So he suggested becoming the new Lars Feld. Lindner had appointed the Freiburg economist as his personal representative—with a direct line to the minister. And Klingbeil praises Südekum as "one of the architects" of the €500 billion special fund. Südekum, incidentally, is a member of the SPD.