Overview

• The episode airs Sunday, 12 October at 21:45 on Das Erste and will be available afterward in the ARD Mediathek.
• Finance Minister Lars Klingbeil appears alongside economist Monika Schnitzer and ARD Berlin bureau chief Markus Preiß.
• The discussion centers on whether the 500 billion euro special fund reaches municipalities and growth‑oriented projects or gets lost in bureaucracy.
• Klingbeil is expected to defend his investment‑first approach and his plan to modernize infrastructure, defense and education under eased borrowing rules.
• Schnitzer signals pushback against non‑growth spending and urges that new debt be restricted to productivity‑enhancing investments.