[Dargo]

Whereas the sacked Lindner insisted on cutting benefits and pensions, SPD leader Scholz and his Economy Minister Robert Habeck (Greens) preferred to make additional public investments to pull the economy out of the doldrums. To this end, they are even willing to abandon the Schuldenbremse (‘debt brake’), the constitutional requirement that Germany's national debt must remain manageable and that Germany does not borrow too much money. For Lindner and his FDP, an absolute no-go. Germany finds itself in a jam with its own principles because of that Schuldenbremse. It turns out to be very difficult to boost the economy when you are dealing with a finance minister who sticks very strictly to this. Germany has long been struggling with a ‘dawdling economy’, where investments by both the government and companies have been delayed for far too long. Now the need is so high that money has to be spent.

There is also overdue maintenance of infrastructure, with many obsolete roads, bridges and chaos on the railways. Furthermore, digitalisation still lags heavily behind that of other countries, threatening Germany's competitiveness, economists have long warned. This cabinet had very good plans, but could not agree on financing. Germany must invest itself out of the economic malaise, preferably with a special investment programme outside the official budget. Germany must accept that the German model of the last decade has come to an end. If they don't accept that, there will be no reforms. And if there are no reforms, then voters will go into extremes, choosing radical-left or radical-right. And we are already seeing that in Eastern Germany.