ifo Dresden berichtet 02/2019

On the Debate About the Equality of Living Conditions: What Should we Do and What Not?

The "equality of living conditions" has constitutional status in Germany. However, there is no agreement as to what regionally equivalent living conditions are at all. It seems better to focus not on the region but on the people living in a region and therefore also to allow regional differences in the level of care if this corresponds to the preferences of the regional population. When policies focus on regional "equality", they must consider the fact that in this case funds are committed that are no longer available for other public objectives. Ultimately, the budgetary legislator must decide which services of general interest are to be provided, to what extent and where. In a democratically constituted state, this decision cannot be left to a commission in which, in addition to representatives of the executive branch, representatives of the regions concerned and of civil society are also represented.

Joachim Ragnitz and Marcel Thum