Overview

• The episode airs Sunday, 12 October 2025 at 21:45 on Das Erste, with streaming available shortly after in the ARD Mediathek.
• Guests are Finance Minister Lars Klingbeil (SPD), economist Monika Schnitzer, and ARD Hauptstadtstudio chief Markus Preiß.
• The discussion centers on the recently loosened debt brake and a proposed €500 billion special fund targeted at infrastructure, defense, and education.
• Key scrutiny focuses on whether money reaches municipalities and priority projects or gets lost in bureaucracy and reallocation described as a potential “Verschiebebahnhof.”
• Topics also include the impact of the Bürgergeld reform and how Germany’s transformation can proceed without straining social cohesion, with Klingbeil’s fiscal credibility under the spotlight.