For a couple of decades Germany has been the economic powerhouse of the EU, and now it isn't. So what is going on in Deutschland to cause such a collapse? The immediate problem is politics and the underlying issue is the Greens.
"Politics" because with five major parties, and a parlimentary system, coalitions are often essential. The second largest of the five parties - the AfD - is seriously conservative (some say "far right"), and the other four parties have sworn not to ally with it.
This refusal brought the Greens into government when Merkel stepped down and her CDU could not muster a majority coalition. Since the Greens care mostly about the environment, the only coalition they will remain in is one that follows their lead on environmental issues. Thus post-Merkel Germany has adopted green policies that, with the Ukraine war, have seriously hurt their economy.Power Line's John Hinderaker has a good column on the subject. What crashed is the German manufacturing sector, formerly a major strength. He quotes the London Times. (links in original):
Germany’s historically vital manufacturing sector has stalled amid a slowdown in global export demand and a sharp rise in energy prices. Its underperformance has increased the risk of Europe’s economic growth engine slipping back into recession and dragging the rest of the bloc with it.
To which Hinderaker adds:
That “sharp rise in energy prices” is due to the fact that Germany has gone “green,” investing countless billions in wind and solar energy while shutting down its nuclear power plants, and in the meantime relying on Russian natural gas. That strategy is yielding economic catastrophe.
And he notes The Telegraph opines:
The war in Ukraine meant that the Russian gas had to be turned off, and given the ridiculously self indulgent decision to close its nuclear plants Germany only managed to avoid blackouts by paying eyewatering prices for energy on the global market. Factories are already closing because they can’t afford power.
They ended up buying electric power from France where it is mostly generated by the nuclear plants Germans despise.
