Germany is again the sick man of Europe

Just two years ago, Germany was celebrated internationally as a role model during the corona crisis. Thanks to its rule- and science-based policy, the Federal Republic is getting through the pandemic better than other countries, praised Nobel Prize winners such as Robert Shiller, is pursuing a decisive climate policy and is also economically frighteningly successful.

But now it is clear: the celebration was only the “last hurrah” of an economic nation in decline. Europe’s economic superstar of the past decade has degenerated into the new “sick man of Europe”.

According to the new forecast by the International Monetary Fund, among the major countries, only sanctioned Russia will slide deeper into the crisis than Germany next year. In view of Germany’s dependence on Russian gas, this may not come as a surprise at first. But the German growth weakness is by no means just a temporary consequence of the Ukraine war. The problems go deeper.