DECLINE IS A CHOICE: Germany, Once a Powerhouse, Is at an Economic ‘Standstill.’

As the economy sputtered last year, the government was nearly paralyzed by bickering among members of the three parties that make up Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s ruling coalition. Then came a budget crisis in November, causing the government’s popularity to plunge in polls.

Many of those disputes were over how to fill a 17 billion-euro ($18.5 billion) gap in the budget after the country’s highest court in November threw out the previous spending plan. That decision was driven by the country’s so-called debt brake, a law enshrined in its Constitution to keep public deficits low.

But geopolitical crises and new industrial rivalries in China and the United States have weakened demand for German-made products abroad. 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.
The restrictions on borrowing are preventing the government from making badly needed investments in public infrastructure, from schools and public administration to railways and energy networks.

Germany has plenty of money for investments; they just choose to spend it on generous social welfare programs, instead.

Although I am a bit jealous of that “debt brake” that stops Berlin from trying to spend its way out of problems the way Washington does.