Coronavirus: Androsch warns of a second lockdown – Coronavirus Vienna

SPÖ industrialist and former finance minister Hannes Androsch calls on the turquoise green government to put together a big economic stimulus package for the next year and a half as soon as possible in view of the crown crisis. Businesses urgently need orders, otherwise there would be a wave of bankruptcies and even higher unemployment figures, Androsch told reporters in Vienna on Tuesday.

According to the industrialist, the government’s crown aid for businesses has so far been implemented slowly and bureaucratically. Androsch is co-owner of printed circuit board manufacturer AT&S, salt producer Salinen Austria, and Vivamayr spa centers. “Corona’s relief measures have largely failed brilliantly,” said the company director. Switzerland and Germany would have carried out the rescue measures more quickly and would now be in a better economic position.

Androsch described the incumbent politicians in Austria as “ad heroes.” The investment bonus implemented by the government is “very good” for companies that have already planned investments in research and development (R&D), but there are probably no new investments in R&D because the lead time is too long.

According to Androsch, the so-called “billion broadband” could be rolled out more quickly and schools, universities and barracks could be renovated as part of an economic stimulus package from the crown. The stimulation of private consumption is more convenient with vouchers, because cash benefits would especially increase the savings rate. In times of crisis it is better to save than to consume. The former SPÖ politician named the gastronomic voucher in Vienna as a positive example.

Androsch warned of the effects of a second blockade in Europe and Austria. “What we are experiencing is a progressive lockdown.” Missing exports and foreign tourists could not be replaced locally in Austria. This is “a catastrophe” for the national economy. A second closure would mean “a wave of store closures,” the industrialist warned. The situation is already very tense for many companies.

From 2010 to September 2020, Androsch was also Chairman of the Council for Technological Research and Development. The FTE Council is an advisory body to the federal government. He is currently the chairman of the supervisory board of the AIT (Austrian Institute of Technology), the largest non-university research institution in Austria. Androsch criticized the government’s science and research policy. The basic research budget is “badly” endowed. As a negative example, he referred to the current Nobel Prize in Chemistry. This year the award goes to Emmanuelle Charpentier and Jennifer Doudna for the discovery of genetic scissors. Charpentier led a research group at the University of Vienna from 2002 to 2009. The scientist shouldn’t have been allowed to go back then, Androsch says.