German socialists keep thinking up creative ways to drive companies out and run the economy into the ground.
Online German BlackoutNews here reports on details of a proposal by the SPD Socialists Party parliamentary group (SPD-Bundestagsfraktion) to tax productivity gains resulting from the deployment of Artificial Intelligence (AI) to fund bleeding social programs.
The extreme left SPD socialists aim to secure new revenue streams (such as a potential “AI dividend”) for the welfare state to offset anticipated losses in payroll taxes and social security contributions if AI replaces human labor.
Although no specific tax rate has been set yet, the plan targets the extra revenue generated through automation, digitalization, and increased process efficiency.
How incompetent can policymaking get?
The initiative creates a conflict with Chancellor Friedrich Merz’s economic strategy, which claims to prioritize boosting competitiveness, encouraging investments, and accelerating productivity before discussing redistribution (“growth first, then redistribution”).
German corporate tax rates remain high internationally (at around 30.13% for corporations in 2025). While the federal government aims to reduce corporate burdens to attract investment, the proposed tax works in the opposite direction.
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