That was the politics, but philosophically he was  pro-big business (one of his nicknames was "Genosse der Bosse", or "the capitalists' comrade").

I remember when he said that Germany would not participate in the Iraq war. It was during his first re-election campaign, and he was in a televised debate with Eduard ("Clueless") Stoiber. The moderator posed the Iraq question to Edi first, who hemmed and hawed. By contrast, Schröder came out with a clear and unequivocal "Nein!", with no weasel room whatsoever.

And I've always wondered whether he meant to be so downright or if he just saw a chance to make points and add-libbed.

The fact is that what we're experiencing right now is a top-down disaster. -Paul Krugman