Like me, when we see many ups and downs in rankings of the national economic model, it is not surprising to learn that what was considered a sure recipe for success at one time is portrayed as stagnant or sclerosis after 10 or 2 years. As the Western economy tends to exhibit the same broad trend, perception amplifies relatively small differences in GDP growth. Still, Wolfgang Munchau’s Caputo: The End of the Miracle in Germany It was amazing. (However, my recent experience with German trains was mobile coverage too).
tHe books – This is very well written – German policymakers claim that they made several strategic bets that backfired significantly over time decades ago: Russia’s energy, underinvestment, and overreliance on some parts of the manufacturing sector, China has gained position, based on the production of electric vehicles, for example. It emphasizes the mere redundancy of digital and green transitions, namely the reliance on technology for the prominence of internal combustion engines. The effective merchantalist system of political prioritization and finance is not an innovative thing that could nibble on those well-known manufacturers, but continues to support the country’s traditional strengths. In fact, the list of fees is long – the labour market cannot accommodate sufficient income to expand the source of labor (women, over 60, immigrants) due to outdated skills, occupational and apprentice structures, digital infrastructure, and of course, years of disastrous energy policies.
Is this really the end of a German miracle, or the end of another episode of the episode that appears to be a deadly weakness of a year? As The author says In the prologue, “A British journalist and my friend warned me not to write this book. He said that the surprising lesson in his professional life never took a bet on the German economy.” 5G is terrible, and the trains are worse than us in the UK, but German towns are still thriving more visible than many of the British. On the other hand, people generally use cash. A while ago, ATMs at Hamburg airports were unimaginable in other European countries. And people don’t use apps that are familiar to us to navigate or find restaurants because they don’t load onto a terrible mobile network.
I don’t know if the German miracle is permanently broken, but this is an eye-opening read. And of course there is a message that German voters are trying to send the country’s political establishment next month.
