VAlmost a century ago, Germans had to learn what it means when money loses its value. Within a few months, millions of people lost all their savings. The economic collapse of the German Reich after the First World War left deep scars in the collective memory of the population. Decades later, stories were still being told in the families of how the grandmothers did small purchases for what are now unbelievably large sums of money and how the grandfathers went directly to the market on the day of the wage payment with backpacks full of money and not home, because that would have been the case by taking a detour Money would otherwise continue to lose considerable purchasing power.
The trauma left by the inflation of the 1920s was also evident in the polls by the Allensbach Institute for Demoscopy: Whenever people were asked about their concerns, the fear of currency devaluation was almost always one of the most frequently mentioned points, even at times , where there was actually no or only very little inflation.
Against this background, it is understandable that the current high inflation rates are causing concern among the population. In the current survey by the Allensbach Institute for Demoscopy commissioned by this newspaper, 83 percent of those surveyed said that the price increases were causing them great concern.
This point was at the top of the 19 possible answers. The war in Ukraine came second, mentioned by 80 percent. 73 percent said they were very worried that the situation in Europe and the world was becoming increasingly unpredictable, 69 percent chose the statement “that the energy supply could not be secured”.
Worries greater than in the 2009 financial crisis
The most important issues of recent years rank far behind: “Only” 44 percent said they were very worried that there could be another influx of refugees in Europe, 43 percent expressed great concern that the corona virus would not succeed – Get a grip on the pandemic. You can see how much the issue of inflation, together with the Ukraine crisis and the associated problems with the energy supply, dominates discussions among the population.
In fact, for many people, the fear of currency devaluation is not a theoretical problem, but a very concrete, everyday problem. In the current survey, every second respondent said they were very concerned that they would no longer be able to pay their heating bills. And when asked how much they were burdened by the price increases in Germany, 17 percent of those surveyed answered that they were very badly burdened by it, a further 45 percent said that the price increases were a heavy burden on them. Only a minority of 35 percent said they were less severely, hardly or not at all burdened.
A comparison with the financial crisis of 2008/2009 shows how much inflation is affecting people’s everyday lives, in contrast to other economic crises in the past. In May 2009, when asked “How badly is the crisis affecting your life?”, only six percent answered that the crisis was badly affecting their lives. Another 20 percent indicated that the crisis affected them somewhat, but not as badly. Now, 15 percent said inflation affected them a lot, and 47 percent said it affected them a little, but not as much. So it is only logical that when asked “Are you better off economically today than a year ago or worse, or would you say: no difference?” Only three percent of those surveyed answered that they are better off today, while every second person said , he is doing worse economically than a year ago.
