In Italy as abroad, the study recently published by the Bundesbank, the German central bank, concerning the evolution of the volumes of private wealth of German citizens, according to which - for example - it appears that the Spaniards are richer than the Germans. The survey is in fact part of a broader European research coordinated by the ECB and still under development. The results are expected before the German elections in September. Nonetheless, BuBa took the opportunity to sketch out some initial comparisons with the Member States of the Euro area, using the data provided by the national central banks. As Marco Valerio Lo Prete recalled in Il Foglio on 26 March, for Italy the calculations of the Bank of Italy were used in his study on household savings.
So far, however, few observers in Germany have bothered to check whether the comparisons have really been made between commensurable units. To accuse the Bundesbank to have compared apples to pears was only the authoritative IW economic research institute in Cologne, one of whose main financiers is the confederation of entrepreneurs in the metalworking sector (Gesamtmetall). In a brief note released on their website, Ralph Enger and Judith Niehues argue that, at least with reference to Spain, the data would not actually be so easily comparable to the German ones. For four different reasons. The German figures date primarily to 2010, while the Spanish ones to 2008, the year in which the property bubble burst. In short, from that moment on the values could have gone down and even by a lot. In the case of data concerning private equity, these are then average values.
However, given that in Germany the household is made up of an average of 2 people, while in Spain it is 2,7, the differences are destined to almost completely disappear, if one considers the private net worth per capita. Added to this is the fact that in Germany the share of Germans with home ownership (44%) is very small compared to Spain (83%); in other words, German real estate assets are mostly corporate assets and a small part of household assets. Finally, a consideration on the median value. Despite being much lower than the Spanish one, Germany can count on a very stable social insurance system and in general on high quality social benefits and services. However, such data is obviously not calculated when it comes to making estimates of asset values.
In short, for the IW the description that appeared in German newspapers and implicitly endorsed by Bundesbank it would be partial and coarse, as well as leading to wrong conclusions on fiscal policy, such as the institutionalization of the forced levy on current accounts on the Cypriot model or a balance sheet on private financial assets to the Commerzbank as crisis resolution tools.
