First....I'm one to say since 2020 (the Covid era)....the German economy has marginally recovered, and the severe damage done (2020, 2021, and 2022)...has severely wounded what was the 'machine' left from the 1980s (the Kohl era).
Germans have tried to go back to normal....going on trips....renovating their homes....being social....being hyped-up about soccer and reality TV. But if you walk around shopping districts of Frankfurt, Mainz, Darmstadt and Wiesbaden....there's empty store-fronts....fewer restaurants/pubs, and more 'gimmicks' to get people to spend money (that they apparently don't have).
There's one particular pub in Wiesbaden....which suffered greatly in 2020/2021/2022. They briefly came back for 6 months in 2023....then gave up, and exited the building. A year passed....another guy showed up and tried to introduce a new pub....with that failing in six months. I noticed last week....a burger-joint operation is about to open at the site (mostly to sell beer, and hamburgers). It might do well in the spring/summer months....but they lack seating for winter 'survival'. I'll predict within 18 months....it shuts down.
Second, while Merz is the right guy to plan a recovery....he has to have general support of the SPD to bring change. Most of the SPD strategy centers on more 'projects'....which require more taxation revenue.
I'm not that enthusiastic over a route being invented.
Third, energy cost....compared to twenty years ago...is outrageous. The design that Merkel left for this 'crew'....would require a total revamp, and probably a comeback of nuke energy....which the environmentalists are fully against.
It'd make more sense for most German companies who have products/services requiring large electrical consumption....to move into Czech or Poland.
Fourth and final....if you sit with a older German crowd....everyone grumbles about the cost of living and the marginal pension plan.
The Merz crew is giving zero confidence on this problem....with whoever follows them....locked into the same mess.
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