In the private sector, the situation is clear. The more complex a problem, the more creativity is required in finding a solution. A good example is the automotive industry’s approach to rare earth elements. Electric mobility cannot do without them yet, but the vast majority of available deposits are firmly in Chinese hands. Many companies try to secure themselves through long-term supply contracts. In addition, a lot of development effort goes into reducing the need for – and thus dependence on – rare earths per vehicle. BMW is already quite advanced here, and other car manufacturers are making significant progress as well.

In politics, the approach of tackling challenges from various angles is rarely chosen. Creativity often ends up being limited to throwing more money at a problem. The ailing health insurance system, for instance, continues to be „treated“ with the same old ineffective remedy: cutting benefits and raising additional contributions. The customer is not king here, but a vassal. This is undoubtedly a strategy that would have no chance of survival in the private sector over the long term.

There are creative approaches – if one looks beyond national borders. In Singapore, for example, a clever linkage of health and pension insurance ensures that a particularly cost-saving healthy lifestyle also pays off in pension benefits in cash. Positive incentives for a socially desirable way of life? Here at home, at best in homeopathic doses. Instead, bans and prohibitions are preferred. While these can help, they neglect the most important motivating factor: people’s self-interest.

This fundamental insight is not even disputed. Otherwise, we wouldn’t need a market economy. Even in the welfare state, it’s time to find creative solutions that incentivise people to protect public coffers. Instead of a practice fee, for instance, additional pension points could be earned if no doctor’s office was visited in a quarter. Not every sore throat needs to end up in the waiting room. Those who have prepared well for old age could be rewarded for waiving pension claims with higher exemption limits on gifts or inheritance. There are plenty of ideas for alternatives. It’s time to leave the beaten path.