76
Germany, Once a Powerhouse, Is at an Economic ‘Standstill’ (www.nytimes.com)
submitted 9 months ago by MicroWave@lemmy.world to c/world@lemmy.world
12 comments fedilink hide all child comments

The economy shrank last year and is not predicted to grow much in 2024. Farmers are angry, industrial output is falling and the government is bickering.

Germany started the year with Berlin’s streets choked with tractors and farmers blaring horns in furious protest of proposed budget cuts. Then train engineers walked off the job to demand better pay, stranding commuters and carloads of freight and leaving the country angry and gridlocked.

The same could be said for the state of the German economy. Last year it contracted 0.3 percent, official figures showed this week, making it not only the largest economy but also the slowest growing among the 20 countries using the euro. Industrial production has fallen five months in a row.

“The economy is at a standstill in Germany,” said Siegfried Russwurm, the president of the Federation of German Industries. “We don’t see any chance of a rapid recovery in 2024.”

Since it was rebuilt after World War II, Germany has been Europe’s main driver of economic growth, becoming an industrial powerhouse known for vast factories and fine-tuned engineering.

But now its automakers must compete with relatively cheap electric cars from China, and it vies with the United States to attract tech giants. There is a growing realization that Germany has not been successful updating its industry with sufficient flexibility and digital know-how to remain competitive.

Non-paywall link

all 15 comments
sorted by: hot top controversial new old
[-] BombOmOm@lemmy.world 27 points 9 months ago

People were telling Germany for a decade that their over-reliance on Russian gas was a massive problem. Instead they publicly laughed at idea and doubled down. When the cheap gas faucet was abruptly turned off in 2022, suddenly Germans were paying piles of money for every loose scrap of gas available. Many factories ground to a halt or became uncompetitive.

[-] Horst_Voller@feddit.de 32 points 9 months ago

A lot of other European countries depended on Russian gas. Some even more than Germany. That's not the main reason for the slow recovery from COVID and the energy crisis. Germany let a lot of it's infrastructure rot and is now facing the consequences. Additionally there are ideological debt restrictions in place, hindering the government to start a stimulus program, while a lot of other countries are doing exactly that.

[-] HobbitFoot@thelemmy.club 13 points 9 months ago

You're also dealing with a Germany that made most of its economic value in manufactured goods that either don't transition well to a post-carbon world or can't compete against the Chinese market.

[-] suzune@ani.social 9 points 9 months ago* (last edited 9 months ago)

The point is that if you cannot make money in Germany, you're dumb. It's not about gas or energy. It's cheap as it was earlier but they're much more taxes.

The problem is the laziness of the industry and service sector. They haven't been making progress but stagnated for decades hoping to just make money from status quo. Now they blame everyone but themselves just to distract from their mismanagement.

But the reality is, when you don't make money, someone else will do.

[-] PipedLinkBot@feddit.rocks 1 points 9 months ago

Here is an alternative Piped link(s):

publicly laughed at idea

Piped is a privacy-respecting open-source alternative frontend to YouTube.

I'm open-source; check me out at GitHub.

[-] gencha@lemm.ee 20 points 9 months ago

North Stream 2 didn't happen. Industry expected it to happen. Also, our ex-chanslor is Putin's buddy and Gazprom board member for some reason.

Loans are no longer free. Industry expected loans to be free forever. Also, our current chanslor forgot all the details about all his meetings with people involved in Cum-Ex.

Working population has been decreasing for decades. Industry expected to compensate with overtime and worse working conditions. Also, skilled foreigners prefer countries where the police doesn't reliably lose all evidence in neo-nazi cases.

Industry invested billions into a brand revolving around Kanye West.

Industry has been responsible for several global car emissions scandals.

Industry bought Monsanto.

Industry pays their top-level management ludicrous bonuses for laughable goals.

Pretty sure we just need to eat the rich.

[-] hannes3120@feddit.de 3 points 9 months ago

Also Merkel basically did everything to not change the status quo and her government even actively sabotaged renewable energies and made it almost impossible to invest money into future technology.

They were even PROUD to not make any debt when Germany was one of the few countries that would get paid by the banks for making debts.

Now the retirement fund is starting to eat up the available money more each year since the main voting group of the CDU are retired people and they didn't want to change anything about how that system works even though it's in dire need of reforms especially with the boomers now getting into retirement.

[-] Syntha@sh.itjust.works 1 points 9 months ago

The working population has not decreased for decades at all. It has peaked around 2022, I'm pretty sure.

[-] autotldr@lemmings.world 2 points 9 months ago

This is the best summary I could come up with:

Germany grew rich in recent decades by selling its goods to the world, racking up a trade surplus that strained ties with the United States under President Donald J. Trump.

But that would mean changing the Constitution, which requires a two-thirds majority in Parliament, implying a level of cooperation between the opposition and the government that is unthinkable in the current political environment.

Economists have warned that taking a red pen to spending instead of raising taxes — a move vehemently opposed by the fiscally libertarian Free Democrats, the smallest party in Mr. Scholz’s coalition but the one that controls the finance ministry — will be a further drag on the economy.

That, coupled with an increase in wages won after labor actions like the train engineers’ strike, could encourage German consumers to spend more, albeit at the risk of fanning further inflation.

He pointed to the country’s growing green tech sector as a bright spot in the economy, those industries that develop technology for environmental protection, renewable energies and the efficient use of resources.

Intel and Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company plan to build factories in eastern Germany, helped by subsidies worth €20 billion, which have survived government budget cuts.

The original article contains 1,206 words, the summary contains 200 words. Saved 83%. I'm a bot and I'm open source!

[-] Wanderer@lemm.ee 1 points 9 months ago

Maybe they just need more doctors and engineers to come over to help the economy grow.

this post was submitted on 21 Jan 2024
76 points (92.2% liked)

World News

39005 readers
1012 users here now

A community for discussing events around the World

Rules:

Similarly, if you see posts along these lines, do not engage. Report them, block them, and live a happier life than they do. We see too many slapfights that boil down to "Mom! He's bugging me!" and "I'm not touching you!" Going forward, slapfights will result in removed comments and temp bans to cool off.

We ask that the users report any comment or post that violate the rules, to use critical thinking when reading, posting or commenting. Users that post off-topic spam, advocate violence, have multiple comments or posts removed, weaponize reports or violate the code of conduct will be banned.

All posts and comments will be reviewed on a case-by-case basis. This means that some content that violates the rules may be allowed, while other content that does not violate the rules may be removed. The moderators retain the right to remove any content and ban users.

Lemmy World Partners

News !news@lemmy.world

Politics !politics@lemmy.world

World Politics !globalpolitics@lemmy.world

Recommendations

For Firefox users, there is media bias / propaganda / fact check plugin.

https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/media-bias-fact-check/

founded 1 year ago
MODERATORS
quinten@lemmy.world
NewsAutoMod@lemmy.world
jordanlund@lemmy.world
Tenthrow@lemmy.world
little_cow@lemmy.world
lemmyAtom@lemmy.world
FlyingSquid@lemmy.world