Money and power – how much influence do the super rich have? (3/3) | DW Documentary

[Music] the German real-estate developer and multi-millionaire cust of Qunu has an appointment with the desert off city mayor groan Ami's frequently with local politicians because they are the ones who award building contracts and local politicians meet frequently with people like Christophe Cunha sometimes the real estate tycoon has four meetings like this in a day how much influence do the super-rich wield we sought to answer that question by looking at crooner and many others in Germany at first glance it seems to be a wealthy powerful country brimming with opportunities but on closer examination Germany is among those industrialized countries with the widest gap between rich and poor success is often dependent on social background why is economic mobility so low in Germany is social inequality threatening social cohesion to find answers we traveled the world we spoke to a Nobel laureate and other leading researchers all experts on the dynamics of inequality today it will sense that the control of their nation is being stolen from them inequality is the most pressing social problem facing us today welcome to the land of inequality [Music] kristef Kuna has four children and multiple Millions for six months he led our cameras follow him at public appearances we're the ones with opportunity time and money we have to get involved we are the state and ours is one of the best nations in the world and behind the scenes of his business one of Germany's biggest construction companies these were all derelict all trash he got rich with real estate and worked his way to the top there's no better society than ours here in Germany we have a new seating plan let's go just a guy in here on the right you there that's great he's a leading property market investor generating millions of square meters of living space does his wealth lend him power Christophe Cunha on his way to another meeting today he wants to personally ensure that a project to construct a new neighborhood doesn't get bogged down in red tape it's a bit scary when you realize how easily you achieve your goals that correlation as I think I become I have a vision of what I want to achieve and bang it works and when you go a step further and that works too it's powerful you learn to be tough as you pursue your goals or rather your company's goals here in Cologne Christophe Cunha has acquired half of an entire Street in the District of Merlin he plans to build a new neighborhood called Colo neo to the tune of three hundred and fifty million euros today he and his cologne team are discussing the pending building permit greener thinks things are moving too slowly mr. Hoffmann is on top of the project and will be submitting our building application in November okay but starting construction July first is a bit late isn't it processing the application generally takes 12 months I'd still try to speed things up oh yeah wherever we can but the city has said clearly they need to prioritize tasks because they're understaffed that's not good enough then we'll have to meet the mayor I want that permit by spring I won at March 30th we break ground April first I want to move in 18 months later experience has shown no in this case I'm not bothered by experience [Music] cleaners cologne project illustrates a common dilemma companies want to build apartments that maximize profits tenants want apartments they can afford the city government has invited residents of Cologne to a local gym for a meeting to discuss the future of their city and identify the issues that are important to them I can't afford tenure as a square meter the evenings host is colognes mayor inria tulika lost time here - conversation centers on the divide between rich and poor I understand your position but we can't tell people where to live or when to move everyone has to decide that for themselves for many years local governments sought to ensure the supply of affordable housing by building themselves then a wave of privatization swept across Germany in the 1990s and investors took over but the city needs thousands of flats which is why mayor Baker needs Kuna City has a duty to provide the space and building permits needed to ensure sustainability in the housing market we haven't yet managed to attract enough investors how do you respond to investors who say either you let us have our way or we'll take our project elsewhere investors investors do that but they know I'm open to negotiation and what about mystic Luna and that building permit he's waiting for several times a year and we trying to reach agreement and lay out the next steps are you both satisfied now we're at least optimistic the meeting in the gym reveals that in the struggle against rising rents many residents feel abandoned politicians who decides today what the Germany of tomorrow will look like who really wields power in Germany we asked residents in Duisburg and live say [Music] this is what members of the German parliament thought their answers would be Macan politicians I think people wouldn't say politicians because they know politicians don't hold any power I'm sure too few said that they're the ones who have power business the 1% the corporation's they said corporations should be the people but it's capital the corporations it's not politicians they're just figure heads the ones with the money do you find these answers frustrating no because it's true they're right but that's a problem for democracy it worries me yes you guys you've read rather they believe that politicians could take the responsibility you fightin for dr. Jameson of the gig I think we need to do something to show them we're not running after the money so to speak understand it in two hands near the Parliament building the battle for power and influence also plays out on the real estate market Florian Schmidt is on his way home he's not looking forward to the evening ahead [Music] tonight his own home is a ring for the round of the real-estate power fight [Music] sympathy was nice enough the two coming to see the flat like stereotypical Anglophone hipsters from abroad the visitors are interested in buying the flat that Florian Schmidt rents so they'll come in and then take a look at the flat it should be a brief affair it's a small apartment only sixty square meters the parents sleep on the pullout in the living room their 7 year old son and 4 year old daughter sleep next door this is where the kids sleep but my little desk is there too Lauren Schmidt moved in here when he was still a student now the flat is up for sale the potential buyers have arrived you're from the real estate agency yes the agent arranged the appointment his clients wish to remain anonymous they're from abroad and want to invest in Berlin's property market Florian Schmidt is a member of the Green Party and the councillor responsible for urban development public space and facility management in his district free design courts back mr. Schmidt are you surprised that being a politician doesn't exempt you from the danger of being driven out of your rental no not at all and that wouldn't be good either being a politician shouldn't guarantee preferential treatment he holds no grudge against the prospective buyers the problem lies elsewhere so I just want to make it clear to you it's not against you it's more against not against you it's assistant has lots of conditions what as a tenant Schmidt knows he'll probably be the loser in this round but as a politician Schmidt has a different opponent Christoph g'loona who wants to build in his district many local residents opposed the plans of course I'm somewhat wary of such people's because they produce a kind of urban environment that doesn't correspond to the type of environment we want to live in we say that it would be best if buildings were owned by the people who live in them and not by people looking to extract a profit from them the same applies to new buildings we want people who live in the building's to own these buildings as coops we're working for the people while mr. Koerner works for his shareholders Florian Schmidt dreams of a city where real estate is in the hands of housing cooperatives and small property owners Gruner bought this former post office tower in Schmidt's district with the intention of installing hundreds of apartments at the time of filming this report he'd locked horns over the development with Schmidt who believed voters and politicians should have a say Gruner complained the district was delaying the building permit he found a lucrative interim solution though by renting a few floors out as office space on this day he was using that space to host a new year's event [Music] his plans foresaw luxury apartments in the tower with welfare housing relegated to adjacent buildings nice to see you he's become my secret weapon every day each of the individuals standing up here go that extra mile they sacrifice vacation time get in trouble with their partners at home because they can't explain why or because they're suspected of having joined a sect so I'd like to say a big thank you to you my colleagues and now please return to the audience so that everyone can see me please councillor florian schmidt was also invited to the reception I got a message from ploy on Schmidt last night telling me you wouldn't be able to make it mainly because of family reasons maybe another opportunity to meet can be arranged I'm ready and willing I'd be happy to have a chance to talk ploy on Schmidt is a representative of the people sent by his political party so basically he's just a prisoner of his own circumstances of his party and his district I wouldn't want to be in his shoes if I were I'd do things differently this is the district free design cords back Florian Schmitz district I don't know where things stand mister Corona is meeting the urban planning committee next week so maybe that will be a good time Lauren Schmidt was once an activist who attended demonstrations against big business and its representatives people like una today he uses his role in city government to steer development in an equitable direction but he can't build the needed living space himself the district has acquired a few buildings but its budget is small so he needs investors this is a gas station by the canal today the department is discussing a different project here we're talking about closing a gap with the hotel ok well we need to put a big question mark behind that tearing down houses that people live in is just the kind of thing we don't want to be doing so I'd ask you to not give any recommendations of how this could work to listen if none at all ok Joyner and Schmidt plan to meet soon to discuss how to move forward with the formal postal office building it's unclear how that conversation will go is wealth power we are absolutely at a crossroads right now in the 21st century in this very year given the socio-political forces that are operating on a global scale and of course that leads into the political issue political inequality that stems from wealth inequality you hear a lot about how wealthy people seek to influence elections and that is certainly a very real and serious problem but it's much bigger than that studies in the u.s. have shown that the wealthy steer the direction of the country if the rich elite has a policy objective it very often gets what it wants whatever the elite doesn't favor is likely to fall through even if it's backed by the lower income majority [Music] is the same true in Germany I mean Schaefer is a political scientist who's investigated this question we were surprised to find that the situation in Germany is skewed in much the same way as described in the US study Bundestag lawmakers have consistently geared their decisions to the interests of higher income earners and higher tier jobs and the interests of people who are less or belong to socially disadvantaged groups are systematically given less consideration and the stomata srinagar offered what policies did this impact the researchers conducted hundreds of surveys on topics ranging from the economy and environment to Foreign Affairs and finance they grouped subjects into rich and poor and asked each to define their desired policy outcome in what area was a divergence most noticeable I don't feel as well next is an obvious example the higher and individuals income the less likely they will be to support a reintroduction of the wealth tax whereas lower income earners definitely want it back to this day we haven't seen the return of such a wealth tax we're winding up with the government of the 1% for the 1% and by the 1% at the football stadium in life seche gustav g'loona has rented a box where his single-seat costs 10,000 euros per season it's a place to cut business deals [Applause] the game is on gwenna uses the time to network how are you I can't complain he's often scored goals himself up here like recently with another major project that had hit a snag we bumped into the city finance minister and had a very polite but firm conversation with him two weeks later we met at his office and found a solution that was for a 350 million euro investment in the end politicians know that it's here in these halls that they'll meet the decision-makers from the business world people who ultimately have a say in and are responsible for urban development right now we still have more than a billion to place in the land of inequality ordinary people sit in the bleachers while the movers and shakers seal their deals and private boxes [Applause] here in the stadium lapses we'll end up losing this game but the deal that counts for Christophe Kelowna takes place at another venue the berlin district office of heedless and courts burg corner has an appointment with councillors Schmidt closed-door talks have been going on for hours Karuna wants his building permit Schmidt wants voters to have a say we talked we don't have a deal yet but we took a first step today how do you see it you've pretty much summed it up the meeting is over but Christophe greener and Florian Schmidt stay behind for a one-on-one colognes carnival is the icebreaker the businessman dons a costume in the annual parade it brings back memories for the politician my mother would dress the whole family up as dying trees in the 80s now it's time to cut to the chase my problems with mr. Schmidt arise when he gets a building permit that he has to sign and he doesn't sign it it just doesn't sign I don't think that's okay I think that's when he should have the guts to say yes I'm a politician and I'm in the green party but right now mr. guna has a right to his building permit so whether I like it or not I'm going to sign I'd say there are at least two ways to see that other people would say I have guts precisely because I'm not signing the building permit people feel frustrated and I sort of do too even though now I make a decent living I live in a small apartment and I'm looking to move and there's simply nothing on the market appeal or if there is something a hundred people are waiting in line hey we'd be welcome to rent one of our flats we'll see but I do feel that ultimately what's happening here is a struggle for power and attention for you too I don't think we'll be assessed by how well we played our hand at some point someone is going to count Apartments and I'd like to be assessed on those merits does money change people's behavior it's a question social psychologist Paul piff has been researching for years for one of his experiments he enlisted hundreds of people to play a rigged game of Monopoly what we did in this game of Monopoly was just manipulate with the flip of a coin whether some people were rich or other people were poor we randomly assigned one person to be this rich player in this rigged game so they got two times the money to play the game they got to roll both dice instead of one to move around the board and what we found is that across all of these different sessions richer players made more noise as they moved around the board they took up more space in the room with their bodies we had a bowl of pretzels the richer players took more pretzels and they are more likely to be talking to the other person with their mouths full when we asked them to describe why they'd won they were way less likely to talk about those external forces those features of the environment their luck that random flip of a coin that had gotten them into that privileged position in the first place and they were more likely far more likely to talk about what they did their own skills their own talents their own successes their own wherewithal their own acumen the decisions they made in the game the world as a boardgame Christophe Cunha is flying to France for one of the most important events on his annual calendar the real estate exhibition in Caen I could cut to the front was my very self important person past but I won't tickets to the fair cost 2000 euros their investors pledged hundreds of billions of euros many politicians depend on businessman like Kona now he's about to meet the people he depends on the property market takes place right next to the yacht harbor investors from all over the world attend it's their money that decides which cities will get new buildings and revive districts and when miniature models seeking big investors the mayor of Cologne Henriette Rika is also here the issue of the building permit for Christopher owners Colonia is settled he says he'll have it by the beginning of July he's satisfied in Kannan Henriette Rika is meeting other investors one every half hour mr. mayhem is the biggest property fair in the world as a growing city we rely on investors to build our properties so we have to showcase ourselves we have to share what cologne has to offer henrietta lakers cologne pitch is directed at a list investors sovereign wealth fund managers and pension fund executives Christophe Cunha does not want his meetings at the fair to be filmed here in Caen it's evident that there is no longer such a thing as the economy today there's the real economy where for example people build houses in which other people live and then there's the financial economy where property is just another asset to turn money into more money the business journalist hands Jurgen Jakob spent years creating a who's who of the world's richest investors and found out who owns the world the world belongs to those who've mastered the art of using other people's money to turn a profit for themselves in the most efficient way possible I'm livid it's you this is how the asymmetrical ratio between the real and the financial economies has developed in the early 70s the two were still equal but by 1990 that ratio stood at two-to-one in 2000 it was 3 to 1 in 2017 the world's financial assets amounted to approximately 300 trillion dollars the real economy is worth just 80 trillion dollars meaning the ratio is now almost 4 to 1 like banks asset managers have grown increasingly powerful the biggest investment firm is Blackrock black rocks holdings for example includes 6% of Siemens shares almost equal to the amount held by the Siemens family in fact Blackrock holds shares in every company listed on the German Stock Exchange and major global companies in total Blackrock has assets amounting to some six trillion dollars meaning it manages more capital than the combined state revenues of the US Britain and Germany [Music] something has shifted if investors control more money than the world's wealthiest nations they have power power that politicians can no longer rein in this universe advisor ina constipated to a certain extent it's an artificial world the people in New York Chicago or Los Angeles who control International Finance capitalism have virtually no contact with the realities of a company or consumer market sweep cut in item for poha macht they're juggling abstract astronomically high figures and trying to meet abstract targets that's the world they live in and all's well in their world as long as the numbers look good it's evening in Caen Christophe Cunha is hosting a party in the yacht harbor goona finances his multi-billion euro projects with bank loans but he also needs investors money a very warm welcome to everyone thank you for coming tonight now it's his turn to pitch when it comes to bidding more often at a disadvantage sometimes we don't land the contract for a really big project why because there are other parties with dubious intentions they buy it divided up and somehow make a few extra euros selling the pieces and the result is a scattering of overpriced properties what we need is fast financing we need cheap money and for that I need you esteemed bank managers and investors I need your support it concerns me that there are more and more parties who aren't interested in creating added value they just want to do business and there's nothing illegal about that per se but they're stronger than we are Christophe Cunha has made millions in property development but investors bankroll billions he has to defend his decisions before politicians as well [Music] the investors who control the money are virtually invisible tonight not one agrees to an interview it's a new world order back in Berlin first of Luna is jockeying to keep up with the global competition he's just arrived from talks with an investor we were in London today and shook things up we did very well with our partners sorry I can't stop smiling you know it's always a tough game again in which only a select few get a share of the prize [Music] people sense correctly that the control of their nation is being stolen from them they sense this all over the world and they're not wrong that's food duties and it's making people feel like they've been left behind like they no longer belong and they view the future with despair we see it in the drop-in party membership as well as in election results and I think it's a very dangerous development it's batali your to be stinking rents and property prices are rising salaries for the most part are not there is a nagging suspicion that politicians are no longer the ones writing the rules opting out of the democratic system is one form of protest here in lapses and induce book residents were asked if they vote kind of what does that mean depends on the situation I didn't vote last time because honestly the system is to correct of course if immigrants my whole life I went to vote if I was even in a political party for 30 years Pataki but in recent years I felt really let down by politicians did you vote last time no why not no time unfortunately no no because nothing gets done no matter who's up there nothing gets done says Alexander Hospital of baby Bella and an older daughter in school Alexandra Hospital mother together with her friend Marcos Zog she shows us their live safe neighborhood of cleaner so it's nice here it's I wouldn't say it's nice what's not nice here the prefabs aren't nice yes the prefabs define the neighborhood I agree that's a con so pros cons even we do have quiet trams one out of three residents here didn't vote in the 2017 general election one of the lowest turnouts in Germany the majority of those who did cast a ballot voted for the far-right AFD party Alexandra when was the last time you voted yeah it's been cada a single one it was just after my 18th birthday manic was my older daughter had just been born I was so proud to be allowed to vote for the first time and I voted and in the last election no say you've completely stopped yes how come because there's no points more than anything Alexandra husbands had children to grow up to have a better life and more opportunities than she's had she's trained as a geriatric nurse Marquez Zork works in a large furniture store they have differing political views ordinary people are heard and seen but the rich hold more Swale for political parties and there are basically no rich single mums there are they just have nannies right you still have faith in the political system I do believe that I can change something with my little vote that's why I vote if I thought there was no possibility of changing anything at all I wouldn't go vote either what bugs me the most is the kindergarten and school situation does that there's no acknowledgement that it's harder for a single parent to have a proper job that feeds the family than it is for couples it's the money it's like this and as long as those conditions for single moms don't change I won't go vote but can democracy work if people don't participate Clovis I think there'll be a new order if people stop participating then what happens then instead of democracy we'll have what dictatorship what can happen if too many people believe they and their elected representatives no longer have any power Jasha monk is from Munich and teaches political science at Harvard University he studied the impact of inequality on democracy in Deutschland HUD see a lot has shifted in Germany 20 years ago only 16 percent of Germans favored having a strong leader who didn't bother with elections and Parliament that figure now stands at 33 percent researchers asked younger and older generations across the world how important it is to them to be living in a country that is governed democratically the results show that whether a person is from the US Poland the Netherlands or Spain the younger they are the less importance they attach to democracy in Germany two-thirds of people over 50 approve of democratic governance not even a third of subjects under 30 feel the same [Music] this map illustrates the number of people who did not vote in Germany's last general election the darker the red the more non-voters the second map shows how many people voted for the far-right AFD the darker the blue the more AFD voters two forms of protest for younger people it's all very abstract the idea that we could one day lose our democracy and end up with communism or fascism is unimaginable to them so they're more willing to experiment they think ok these people Trump from the AFD and even some in the far left parties I'm sure they're partially attacking things I actually support but it can't get too bad I was let's see what they do on remind us a tune that in Germany populist Tsar seizing the moment and echoing voters concerns like here in girl it's in Saxony where many are scared of losing their jobs the AFD has organized this rally the main political parties have stayed away it's infuriating when Zeman's closes plants here and moves them to the czech republic and we're sick of being a cheap labour region how many of you work from morning till night and still can't make ends meet [Applause] [Music] she mentioned a lot of people are asking what about us where are our fates being decided do we still have an identity to home where are those decisions being made somewhere else entirely people are are angry and they're angry for good reason in a lot of European and North American countries but the their attention has been diverted to things that aren't really the source of their anger and frustration and that's the dangerous part I think we have learned lessons from the past that we should not let this inequality go out of bounds we're the only solution is really a destructive one solutions are needed before populism lures voters with the false promise of a quick fix but who can offer such solutions would it help to raffle off a few seats in the German parliament among ordinary citizens should cities be building affordable housing without the help of investors should wealth be taxed after all kirsta Fiona wants to continue pulling the strings that shape Germany's future maybe even more openly than he is today do you feel powerful yes who's more powerful you or politicians I guess business managers are more powerful isn't or more powerful because we're independent I'd like to enter politics someday do you already have a plan for that climb founding a party right now really yes I think we'll soon reach a point and when it'll be important for actors currently working behind the scenes to step out onto the stage [Music] you

Channel: DW Documentary

Views: 1,509,505

Rating: 4.8316936 out of 5

Keywords: Documentary, wealth, poverty, social inequality, real estate, Germany, deutsche welle, inequality, economics, richness, richness in Germany, economic inequality, dw, capitalism, power, world inequality report deutschland, world inequality report 2018, criticism of capitalism, poor, class, middle class, basic incom, christoph gröner doku, christoph gröner, Deutsche Welle, dw documentary, gini index

Id: wEufTD39xrw

Length: 42min 26sec (2546 seconds)

Published: Sun Mar 24 2019

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