While German business leaders do sometimes refer to these long-term political and economic risks, their immediate fear is that right-wing extremists will poison the image of Germany as an attractive place to work.
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Earlier this year, Christian Sewing, CEO of Deutsche Bank, chose the bank’s annual reception in Berlin to speak out about the threat right-wing extremism poses for the bank’s investors. Sewing is not a lone voice on this. Numerous companies and their CEOs have recently stepped forward to raise their concerns about growing right-wing extremism coordinated by the activities of the Alternative for Germany (AfD) party. They see the negative impacts that AfD’s proposed policies, relating to migration, the European Union and man-made climate change, could have for the German economy.
The bigger question may not be whether right-wing politics really is bad for business, but rather if Deutsche Bank and other firms should be getting involved in politics at all.
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