Studio Guest – Wolfgang Gerke, Financial Market Expert
- 00:02:58
- DW-World
Studio Guest – Wolfgang Gerke, Financial Market Expert
Our studio guest this week is Wolfgang Gerke from the Bayerisches Finanzzentrum in Munich. DW-TV: The World Cup is expected to give South Africa's economy a boost. It's estimated that 160 thousand jobs will be created. To talk about the financial finals of the World Cup, how strong is the correlation between big sporting events and economic growth in a national economy? Wolfgang Gerke: A world cup is a very important event and for the country in which the word cup will take place, for sure you will see economic effects and in South Africa we see that. DW-TV: We hear a lot about what is going to happen in South Africa. What about here in Europe? The Euro 2008 soccer games are about to begin in Switzerland and Austria - are we going to feel any GDP effects? Wolfgang Gerke: We may feel something but it's very difficult to say. To see this effect you have to select this effect and that's nearly impossible. DW-TV: Probably better to talk about it after the games. Wolfgang Gerke: That's better. DW-TV: Let's talk a little bit about equities here in Europe especially Germany's benchmark index the DAX. In the last year, it has been a rough ride since the credit crisis began last summer. The graph shows some sort of recovery now. Can we talk about a recovery? Wolfgang Gerke: The data produces something like a recovery but I'm not so sure. There's so much volatility further on in the market. If we look back to the year 2003, then our DAX was at two thousand three hundred something. Therefore I don't see that the financial crisis really touched the stock market as it could have done. DW-TV: As it could have done. The German president, Mr. Köhler has said that financial markets have become monsters that need to be reined in. What do you say to that? Wolfgang Gerke: I absolutely don't like that word 'monster.' That is wrong. The stock market is something neutral. You can talk about market manipulation and we saw banking managers producing really bad things, but you cannot say that the whole market is a monster. We have to change the market supervisory institutions. We have to get more transparency. DW-TV: Like the IMF for example? Wolfgang Gerke: Yes, for example. Therefore I was very much astonished that our Bundespresident was taking the wrong definition.
DW-World | May 20, 2008
