The law that requires the economy to shrink

A bizarre new regulation from the EU commits Germany to in effect shrinking its economy by the end of the decade.

Photo by Johann Siemens on Unsplash

Dear Reader,

Back in March, Olaf Scholz was waxing lyrical about the promised land of “green” technologies that would bring about an economic boom not seen since the Wirtschaftswunder of the 1960s.

Given that Germany is the only major country that actually got poorer over the past twelve months, there has been much mockery of his bold prediction since.

But who said that the crossing to that green, green grass on the other side won’t face stiff headwinds? Sure, the state has just had to bail out Siemens Energy, Germany’s major renewable manufacturer, to the tune of €7.5 billion after its wind division threatened to drag it into ruin. But, perhaps the headwinds missed Siemens’ wind turbines.

There’s just one thing, though. Even if those pastures are as luscious as we’re told, once we get there we won’t be able to gorge ourselves on the fullness of their harvest.

That’s because of a very odd law passed in September that, in effect, commits Germany to rapi…