Abolish regional holidays!

There are debates that are so consistently recurring that they've long since become part of public discourse. These include daylight saving time, New Year's Eve fireworks, the lack of a speed limit, and the number of public holidays. These are topics that are easy to understand, about which everyone has an opinion, and are therefore ideal for quick headlines.

Michael Hüther has done it again. The head of the German Economic Institute has called for the abolition of a public holiday. If all employees worked an extra day, it would have an effect on economic growth, argues the pro-employer economist. Hüther believes this could increase gross domestic product by more than €8 billion, at least mathematically. It would also contribute to the fight against the shortage of skilled workers, and then there's also the psychological component. Wouldn't it be a signal that the country needs right now if everyone joined forces? To paraphrase Roman Herzog: The German economy needs a jolt?

It would be nice if it were that easy.

But criticism follows quickly. Don't Germans already work enough? Hasn't the rate of mental illnesses been rising for years due to the intensification of work? Shouldn't there be more public holidays rather than fewer, especially since Germany, while leading the way in annual leave, ranks somewhere in the middle of the European pack when it comes to public holidays? All good arguments.

The truth is that the economic impact of an additional or canceled public holiday is overestimated. It's not crucial for prosperity whether work is suspended on eleven, twelve, or 13 public holidays—or even 14, as in Augsburg. There, a special local holiday, the Peace Festival, is celebrated on August 8th, which is why the city in the Swabian part of Bavaria has the highest density of public holidays in Germany. Nevertheless, Augsburg's per capita gross domestic product is higher than that of most major cities in North Rhine-Westphalia, where people work three more days.

Instead of constantly debating the number of holidays, it would be more sensible to consider standardizing them. Given the steady decline in the importance of religious denominations, it is becoming increasingly difficult to justify regional differences. More and more people don't care whether they can sleep in for Corpus Christi, the Assumption of Mary, or Universal Children's Day. Therefore, there is much to be said for a nationwide regulation.

Companies that operate across federal states or historical religious boundaries would benefit. And a uniform number of public holidays across Germany would also be fairer. It's about time, even if they probably don't like to hear it in Augsburg.