Werner Rügemer (September 4, 1941 in Amberg) is a left-wing German commentator, lecturer and writer.
Biography
Rügemer was born in Amberg. Originally from the Upper Palatinate region of Germany, he attended primary and secondary school in Brendlorenzen / Rhön, Bad Neustadt an der Saale and Berchtesgaden. He studied literature, philosophy and economics at University of Munich, University of Tübingen and at universities in Berlin and Paris. In 1979 he published his doctoral thesis about the argument "Philosophical anthropology and epoch crisis" at University of Bremen, a study on the relationship between the general crisis of capitalism and the anthropological basis of philosophy as exemplified by Arnold Gehlen. He was co-founder of the Neue Rheinische Zeitung in 1999.
Newspapers, magazines and books
After gaining some experience in journalism, he was appointed by the editor of the monthly publication Demokratische Erziehung between 1974 and 1989. Werner Rügemer has been collaborating with the world of printed papers since the 1980s and on various radio and television programmes (especially with WDR). His principal area of interest is corporate and bank crime in areas such as issues involving corruption. Werner Rügemer's work covers "Klüngel", corruption and corporate crime in his hometown of Cologne, in European municipalities and in the global economy. Rügemer criticises a tendency to pervert democracy in Germany and the "Western values community". It is his view that public debt, corruption and enrichment of elected and unelected elites have reached a level that was attributed only to "developing countries". In his publications on the 2008 financial crisis, he proposed that bad debts used for speculation should be written off and that banks should be led into an orderly insolvency.
He supports the dismantling of the three major rating agencies Standard & Poor's, Fitch Ratings and Moody's, as well as the dismissal of the Big Four accounting firms KPMG, PwC, Ernst & Young and Deloitte from their proprietary tasks.
New Technology - Old Society: Silicon Valley
In his 1984 book, Werner Rügemer described "the dark side of high tech" - a field study from California, where the digital revolution began. It contains a reflection on the history of inventions, illegal work in sweat shops, working conditions of chip workers, groundwater poisoning, interviews with Stanford scientists, trade unionists, armament engineers, fire fighters and a portrait of Steve Jobs. The book was translated in Russian and Hungarian.
State Secret - Discharge Water
The State Secret - Discharge Water (German: Staatsgeheimnis Abwasser) is a book by Rügemer from 1994, in which he wrote about the cycle of drinking water and corruption in the processing of industrial wastewater - as exemplified by the city of Cologne.
Economies Without Corruption? Economies Without Corruption? (German: Wirtschaften ohne Korruption?) is a 1996 novel by Rügemer. The book is about the history of corruption in the Federal Republic of Germany and international practice of the US, France, Great Britain.
Colonia Corrupta
Colonia Corrupta: Privatization, Globalization and Corruption in Cologne was published in 2002. In this book he published an article about the Cologne waste incineration plant.
The Banker
In 2006, Rügmer's book Der Bankier: Ungebetener Nachruf auf Alfred Freiherr von Oppenheim was released. He added some aspects of the political system under Helmut Kohl. His book reveals that Kohl was secretly funded by Sal. Oppenheim in the early 1980s with at least DM 1.3 million.
Grasshoppers' in the Public Space
He talks about the disadvantages of cross-border leasing (CBL) and public–private partnership (PPP). In his work, Rügmer criticized the CBL practice of selling public properties to US private investors. The treaty was largely secret.
Privatization in Germany: A Financial Statement
In 2006, his book Privatization in Germany: A Financial Statement was published. In it he investigated a balance of privatisation projects launched and implemented since 1984, and their impact on public budgets, public services and democracy.
Rating Agencies: Insights Into the Present Capitalist Power
The reviewing economist of the Süddeutsche Zeitung, Rudolf Hickel, recommends the book to capitalism critics and supporters alike. Rügemer openly disclosed the "systematically well-maintained intransparency as well as the lack of liability for incorrect decisions" of the agencies.