Is Germany in permanent decline?

Some worry that Germany is never going to recover from its current malaise. Others say it's just a blip.

Photo by Jasmin Sessler on Unsplash

Dear Reader,

Germans haven’t been in such a pessimistic mood for years.

The apparent stability of the Merkel era convinced the mainstream of society that their politicians were competent custodians of the public finances and that the economy was in a period of stable growth.

Within a year though, that mood of optimism has imploded. Germans are now more likely than not to say that the country is in a bad state of economic health (even though the vast majority say that they are doing well economically). And for the first time in over a decade, people say that no party can be trusted to run the economy.

It isn’t just the public that thinks that the end is nye.

A remarkable report by the state-owned KfW bank warned last month that an era of stagnation and shrinking wealth awaits. 70 years of uninterrupted economic growth are drawing to a close, the bank warned. “The foundation for further prosperity is crumbling.” 

The report cited an emerging crisis of staf…